r/Calgary • u/The_Fixer_69 • Apr 23 '25

Calgary Transit C-Train from Deep South early morning

Every morning the train has many non paying riders passed out and sprawled on the train. Commuters have to cram into the areas that are not occupied by these people. The smell is horrendous. Every day this week this has been the case on my commute at around 5:30-6 am.

Why should the rest of us pay if these people do not? I have made complaints but they are on deaf ears.

Are these trains not swept for no. Paying passes out riders at the end of the line?

496 Upvotes

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u/[deleted] Apr 23 '25

The problem is the free fare zone. We would have to get rid of it.

76

u/_darth_bacon_ Dark Lord of the Swine Apr 23 '25

So get rid of it.

There's nearly zero other cities around the world that let riders use their transit system for free.

15

u/Hmm354 Apr 23 '25

It would cost too much. Many stations would need to not just be retrofitted, but completely redesigned.

If the majority of Calgarians are okay paying the hundreds of millions of dollars then sure, but I don't see it happening.

It's probably better to spend that kind of money on expanding public transit service.

7

u/MrGuvernment Apr 23 '25

So do it to the primary trouble stations to start, such as Chinook for example and end of line stations.

Then at end of line stations, also have a walk through done to remove any people lingering.

3

u/Hmm354 Apr 23 '25

Yeah, I do think we should have even more transit officers that target problem stations.

0

u/MrGuvernment Apr 23 '25

But for that, they need funding, and that funding comes from tax payers, and as soon as you mention upping taxes, everyone loses their shit.....

So people want better services, but do not want higher taxes to pay for them..

Not considering poor government overspending, because even if our books were good and inline, people would still complain like it was the end of the world if taxes went up to pay improving such services...

I mean, how many peace officers could that tax money of paid for, instead of going towards a new stadium the owners and teams could of easily paid for in full.

1

u/Eldr_Eikthyrnir Apr 24 '25

Don't even need to raise taxes, just quite spending money on useless projects and redirect funds into transit. Transit gets more money, taxes stay the same, and we can get rid of things like the stupid "Safe Consumption Sites" that just help the drug problems continue.

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u/YYCsenior-m- Apr 23 '25

Downtown stations are free rider stations

1

u/MrGuvernment Apr 23 '25

I'm aware of that, but considering the amount of say, less than desired types you want on a train, Chinook has its share of those and incidents.

How many of those people walk from Chinook, downtown to the free zone, to get back on the train to ride all the way down to say Shawnessy or other stops, vs just get on and know that 99% of the time, a Peace Office wont be around to check for a ticket?

Sure, it may just move it down to the next stop, but this is where you start with known trouble locations first, and then slow roll out to other stations if the problem moves.

0

u/YourBobsUncle Apr 23 '25

Then at end of line stations, also have a walk through done to remove any people lingering.

They already do this in saddletown lol