Bus link set for college

With the West LRT leg war lost, Brian Pincott is claiming a Plan-B victory as city council is poised to announce two new Bus Rapid Transit routes will soon be heading to Mount Royal College.
While the school was left out of the West LRT extension program planning, it will nonetheless become a major focal point for the city’s rapid transit network today when council outlines its $7 million, two-route project which Pincott expects to better service the 3,750 Mount Royal students who utilize Calgary Transit on a daily basis.
“I’m very excited about this,” said Pincott, who originally lobbied for and failed to get Mount Royal’s inclusion in the planning of the West leg of LRT expansion,”
“And while I lost the first battle, this is our best option, our Plan B, not Plan D or Plan E, and I’m very glad Mount Royal is going to get that regular and frequent service I’ve been after.”
Mount Royal theatre arts student Brook Ritchie thinks it’s about time transit stepped up its efforts at the college and said it should make his average day much more efficient.
“It’s something I think we really need,” said Ritchie. “People are going to maybe not drive their cars so much, maybe help the environment and selfishly, I don’t want to wait around for like 45 minutes on a Sunday sometimes for a bus to come.”
But bachelor of applied non-profit student Alex Coates, disillusioned with campaign promises that all but ensured Mount Royal’s inclusion in the West LRT expansion route, just hopes another last minute mind-change doesn’t leave the students in limbo again.
“I really hope they do follow through this time. With the amount of students that go to this school, they could really start making an impact on environmental issues specifically if we had increased bus services, we need increased intensity and longer hours.”
-neil.mackinnon@metronews.ca