Calgary Transit says it will take two years to improve service as safety concerns continue to be addressed – Calgary

Calgary Transit officials expect it will take two years to increase bus and train frequency due to staffing issues.

On the fourth day of budget deliberations, the city council heard that Transit was short of 800 operators after job cuts due to the pandemic and other cuts within the service.

“We hope to have at least half[the jobs]by the middle of the year,” Calgary Transit director Sharon Fleming told reporters.

“We do a service change every quarter, so you can see some of that service being launched.”

The council has heard that 253 operators have already been recruited this year, and the service is beefing up its training team to keep new operators on track.

Calgary Transit plans to operate services at pre-pandemic levels by the end of next year, Fleming said.

Public transport is now operating at 80% of 2019 service levels, the council said.

Operating funds for passage of the budget are proposed to increase from $265.6 million to $286.5 million over the next four years.

“This year, it’s important to push the recovery forward, so that service levels will improve over the remaining budget period,” said Fleming.

The budget also includes $559.4 million to support the purchase of 25 new LRT vehicles, lifecycle maintenance of the fleet and transportation facilities, and optimization of the transportation network.

Fleming told Congress that money would help, but the problem facing transportation would not be a budget problem, it would take time.

“I think it’s really hard for the public to hear. I think they really want that frequency to increase,” said Ward 3 councilor Jasmine Mian. It is difficult because it is not a matter of

Public transport safety was also a topic of discussion during Thursday’s budget hearings. This was after the release of a video last week of an incident involving weapons and incendiary guns that broke out at his LRT station in Marlborough.

One man was taken into custody after the incident, and Calgary police continue to search for three other men involved.

10th Ward councilor André Chabot said he found the video of the incident “troubling” and said he and a group of fellow councilors wanted to help by piloting a “closed system”. added that it was considering the possibility of restricting access at some of the city’s LRT stations.

“If some of these stations have closed systems that can actually accommodate them and have limited entrances, we can eliminate some of this type of social behavior that occurs inside transit stations,” Chabot says. told reporters.

The Calgary Transit Authority has confirmed that research to introduce a closure system to the city is included in funding for the proposed four-year budget.

related news

• The City Board approves a proposal to purchase Calgary Transit’s electric buses.

“Safety and security are big issues as we try to get more people back into the system,” says Chabot. “If people don’t feel safe, they won’t get on the system.”

Calgary Transit safety has become an increasing concern during the pandemic, with police warning the public about a series of alleged sexual assaults at Dalhousie Station in recent weeks.

Speaking to Global News on Thursday, Calgary Transit passengers said they were often concerned about safety when using the service.

“I always look when I pass by,” said Amy Tam. “If someone approaches me, I just back away.”

The Student Union at the University of Calgary has heard from students who feel they are not safe on trains and would like to see students discuss the safety of the system.

Student Union President Nicole Schmidt told Global News: “As a result, we are asking post-secondary students to engage Calgary Transit and the City of Calgary when it comes to solutions to improve transit safety.”

Calgary Transit officials said $5.9 million in funding from the city is currently being used to hire more transit peace officers to boost its security presence on the system.

Officials told the council that six peace officers are due to graduate this week, with another 14 due this month. Additionally, he expects 14 to complete her training in early 2023.

But 8th Ward Councilor Courtney Walcott said transit users could be better served if the council funded social programming to address systemic issues. I’m here.

“You can make this decision today and make this mistake just by saying you’re going to need more security,” Walcott said. It’s not going to stop people from getting into situations like this.”

Mayor Jyoti Gondec said the city is still awaiting state funding to improve transport safety announced in October.

“To be fair, it was a different government. We have a new government with all kinds of promises to our city, and hopefully we can access some of those funds soon,” Gondek said. said.

However, Fleming told the council that the increased number of passengers would improve safety during transportation.

“One of the best strategies for increasing safety in transit is actually bringing passenger numbers back,” said Fleming. “Now we need to find ways to keep people coming back more and we need reliable and frequent service.”

© 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.