Councillors support request to explore regional fare integration with Airdrie Transit

Calgary Transit has been exploring a more regional approach to transit delivery throughout this decade

A Calgary city council committee endorsed a request Thursday to explore regional transit fare integration with a neighbouring municipality. Members of the intergovernmental affairs committee voted 9-0 in support of administration’s recommendation to collaborate with the City of Airdrie on exploring the feasibility of transit fare integration, with a progress update due in early 2027. However, one councillor scolded administration for not presenting enough information to make an informed decision, while another expressed concern that future fare integration could subsidize Airdrie residents’ use of Calgary’s transit system.

During the meeting, Jon Lee, Calgary Transit’s senior leader of transit service design, said intermunicipal fare integration aligns with the agency’s 30-year strategic plan, RouteAhead. He noted that in June, Airdrie Mayor Heather Spearman reached out to Mayor Jeromy Farkas to explore the feasibility of integrating the two cities’ transit fares. “There are opportunities with this work to strengthen regional relationships and improve transportation in the region for Calgarians and regional residents as a whole, while also potentially supporting transit revenues,” Lee told the committee.

But while he said there is a positive opportunity and strong strategic guidance, further work is needed to determine if regional transit fare integration is viable, especially when considering fare payment collection technology and cost-sharing ramifications. With Calgary Transit already undertaking a fare strategy review, Lee said that review will include information on the potential integration of fares with Airdrie. “Given the alignment to strategic direction, current timing, a strong focus on regional collaboration and the exploratory nature of the work at this time, there’s a high opportunity and low risk,” he said.

Transit routes available from Airdrie to Calgary, but further travel requires paying twice Airdrie, now a city of 90,000 people, already has its own transit agency, which provides both local bus routes as well as inter-municipal routes that take passengers to and from Calgary. One of those bus lines drops Airdronians off at the Rundle LRT station on Calgary’s Blue Line, with a stop at CrossIron Mills shopping mall in Rocky View County. The other — dubbed the Inter-City Express, or ICE — travels to and from Calgary’s downtown from a bus hub in Airdrie.

However, if Airdrie Transit users need to travel beyond the terminuses for those routes once they get to Calgary, they need to pay again when transferring to a Calgary Transit vehicle. In April, Airdrie’s city council approved a new 10-year master plan for its transit system, which includes potential fare integration with Calgary and a future proposed bus route to the northwest quadrant of the city. Calgary Transit has been exploring a more regional approach to transit delivery throughout this decade.

Calgary Transit is also exploring a cost-sharing agreement with Tsuut’ina Nation to extend bus service from some southwest neighbourhoods to the Buffalo Run shopping plaza, which is just outside of Calgary’s limits on the Nation’s reserve. Despite unanimous vote, some councillors have concerns While the committee’s endorsement was unanimous Thursday, Ward 1 Coun. Kim Tyers expressed dismay at the lack of detail in administration’s report.

Lee’s presentation didn’t include a full report or cost estimate for the work council was being asked to support, she added. “At this point, I’m just not sure about taking that next step,” she said. “I just feel we need more information.”

In response, Calgary Transit director Sharon Fleming said all that’s being asked at this time is council direction to collaborate with Airdrie on a scope of work to explore those details. “We normally don’t engage with municipalities outside of council direction, so this would be the first step in starting those conversations,” she said. “Once the scope of work is defined, then we come back to council to talk about what you’re asking about.”

Ward 10 Coun. Andre Chabot said he hopes integrating fares wouldn’t result in Calgary’s transit system subsidizing Airdrie passengers. He noted that property taxes are already heavily supporting Calgary Transit’s cost recovery.

“As long as through this scoping report we make sure the city is kept whole and we’re not subsidizing external customers, because already, our system is heavily subsidized by the mill rate, I’m happy to entertain those kinds of things,” he said. “If it can reduce congestion on our roads, that’s a plus, but I don’t want to see us further eroding the cost recovery we’re getting at the fare box while providing a service to our external customers.” As population grows, mayor says exploring regionalizing transit a logical step After the vote, Mayor Jeromy Farkas said looking at regionalizing transit services is a logical next step as Calgary’s population grows toward two million people.

Fare integration is an early part of that conversation, he argued. But he also said that in light of the lack of a regional transit authority in Alberta, and with intermunicipal passenger rail still in the exploratory phase, it’s largely fallen on the province’s largest city to explore that work. “We see that transit service is provided into Calgary, and for those folks who may have taken a bus to get from Airdrie into Calgary, for them to take the next stop to transfer, they have to pay twice,” he told reporters.

“So that’s the tangible piece here: is finding a way to avoid that so that more and more people choose to use transit as a safe and affordable and reliable option.”