Transit Funding Pressures Continue Despite Budget Increases
Calgary Transit faces ongoing financial challenges despite receiving increased funding in the upcoming year, as the agency works to enhance service levels and frequency across the city. Transit director Sharon Fleming presented these concerns during Day 5 of Calgary's 2026 budget deliberations, highlighting the gap between current funding and the needs of a growing city.
Specific Funding Requests and Service Goals
While Calgary Transit's net operating budget is set to increase from $391 million to $417 million next year, and capital costs rising from $217 million to $306 million, officials are seeking an additional $14 million in ongoing operating funding. This extra funding would support the RouteAhead strategy, which aims to achieve 10-minute frequency service for 15 hours daily, seven days a week on Calgary's primary transit network.
The agency also requires $1.5 million in ongoing capital expenditures specifically for maintenance and repair of the CTrain traction power service. Overall, the year-over-year request represents an additional $26 million compared to previous funding levels.
Future Challenges and Infrastructure Needs
Fleming emphasized that the 2026 budget doesn't address all capital requirements, particularly for improving frequency on Calgary Transit's base network - the local community bus routes connecting passengers to primary transit lines. Most notably, the funding excludes $45 million needed for new bus procurement to achieve service level targets.
"We're hopeful that future budgets do include bus acquisition," Fleming told council. "It's a challenge for us to grow service without more vehicles." She noted that in May, she had informed council that the city would need to spend an additional $15 million annually in operating costs and $45 million yearly in capital expenditures over the next decade to meet RouteAhead targets.
Looking further ahead, Calgary Transit confronts significant capital projects in the coming decade, including a new $500-million bus maintenance and storage facility to replace the current Victoria Park bus barn, plus construction of the Green Line LRT. "Transit is currently facing a significant funding gap as we move to a city of two million, on both the operating and capital side of the ledger," Fleming stated, while acknowledging that "we're trying to eke out every efficiency we can out of the funding we do have."
