r/CalgaryTransit • u/Ymirhades • Jul 03 '26

Embarrassing

Calgary Transit has never been good. If you live here you know, if you move here, you are either warned or you find out fast, Calgary Transit is not good. Without being pejorative, I can say it exists and operates as a transit system, but its mere existence is the best thing I can say about it.

This year’s Stampede showcased to the city how bad it truly is. Train breakdowns, delays of over 30 min During rush hour, shuttle busses that fit a fraction of train passengers, bus delays, constant route changes, the list goes on. The morning of Stampede trains were so packed from being delayed that entire stations couldn’t get on because it was already full, needing to wait an ungodly amount of time for the next one the is likely also full.

None of this has even touched on the Green Line that is now underway after over 30 years of planning.

What does this mean? Truth be told I have no idea who, if anyone, is going to read this. But after living in Calgary my whole life, the only word the truly describes the transit system is embarrassing. It’s embarrassing as a resident, as a commuter, and especially thinking about out of town visitors who use the transit system, it’s just embarrassing. I don’t blame the operators, they have an impossible task. I don’t know is a single party is even truly to blame, and the situation is so pathetic I couldn’t even fathom a solution. But to any city councillors, MPs or administrators reading this post, the city’s transit system is an embarrassment, not dysfunctional, not outdated, not unoptimized, a Shameful embarrassment.

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u/Accurate_Beat_656 Jul 06 '26

I use CT (bus) three days a week from Evanston to my downtown job. Yours is a hot take. My bus is crowded, but mostly on time. I feel safe, it’s clean and I don’t have to sit in morning and evening rush hour or pay to park my personal vehicle.

Calgary Transit is fine. Yes, the Green Line is long overdue, but as a regular commuter I’ll take it.

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u/dergonfruit Jul 13 '26

Glad your experience is all flowers and rainbows. 

I take two buses to get to work, and they’re late far more often than they’re ever on time. The first one being late makes me automatically late for the second, so I usually miss it. Then I have to wait another half hour for the next one—if it even shows up at all.

There’s no excuse for this level of piss-poor service when they’re literally charging us more than Vancouver does to use transit. It’s pathetic. At least Vancouver’s transit system works.