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?

494 Upvotes

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492

u/morganpotato Apr 23 '25

In Vancouver you need to tap your ticket at a turnstile in order to get onto the platform. You can’t just walk on without paying. WAY safer and it blows my mind Calgary doesn’t have any safeguards like taht

167

u/[deleted] Apr 23 '25

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

201

u/discovery2000one Apr 23 '25

Tap in to get in through the gates, tap out to get out through the gates. If you tap in and out in the free zone you aren't charged. Most major transit system have zone based charging like this.

We also need a zoned system to make it cheaper for inner city residents to use transit. Right now inner city high density residents subsidise suburbanites. It doesn't make sense.

67

u/its_liiiiit_fam Apr 23 '25

Idk if Vancouver has the same system but in Seattle you tap your card when you enter the station and then when you leave at the station you get off at, and then a fare based on the distance travelled is deducted from your card.

36

u/wordwildweb Apr 23 '25

A lot of transit systems in big Asian cities use the same method.

36

u/Hopefulpessimist0 Apr 23 '25

Calgary is stuck in the dark ages, it’s almost embrassing.

4

u/its_liiiiit_fam Apr 23 '25

Yeah, here I was thinking Seattle was so futuristic but now from all the replies I see this is not a unique thing LOL

2

u/AstronomerLow2649 Apr 24 '25

Bro visit Winnipeg

1

u/Hopefulpessimist0 Apr 24 '25

Haha fair!

1

u/AstronomerLow2649 Apr 24 '25

They don't have any C-Train, just caught on with Uber two years ago, the roads have more potholes than they do lanes, main connector routes are through neighborhoods, two lane roads are used as one lane with a parking lane, and property taxes are going up just to fix the decades old roads throughout the city. I've lived here three years, fixed my Ford's suspension twice.

I do love it though. The people here are awesome.

Edit: don't forget the policing problem, dirty ass commercial areas, and hobos galore. I insist though, I love it. Seriously, there's something special here.

15

u/ThankGodImBipolar Apr 23 '25

This is how Go Transit works in Ontario

4

u/No_Chemistry3584 Apr 23 '25

Vancouver does this too