Calgary’s newest southeast Bus Rapid Transit will launch Aug. 31 despite the infrastructure delays.
Jen Malzer, senior transit planner, said two planned parking lots are designed for the route that stops in McKenzie Towne and Douglas Glen, but are still awaiting funding and construction is expected to start in the fall.
“About 10 per cent of our riders get to the system using park and ride,” said Malzer. “We didn’t want to delay the service because there is still a lot of passengers who will use other ways to get to transit.”
The BRT has eight limited stops and operates everyday along the same route as the proposed southeast leg LRT.
Malzer said it will address a lot of service gaps the southeast is facing and will connect with existing bus routes and she expects 15,000 Calgarians will use the BRT at first, but will grow as the southeast grows.
She says the plan is contingent on more roads south of 22x and the southeast hospital being built.
“Once those two things come together you will be able to travel further south,” said Malzer, who expects that to happen in 2011 or 2012.
Ward 12 area Ald. Ric McIver said the southeast leg is a great opportunity for Calgarians and beyond to get better service.
“The intention is that this will service a lot of the out-of-town people who use transit,” said McIver.
