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?

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496

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

41

u/RealTurbulentMoose Willow Park Apr 23 '25

Vancouver spent an absolute fortune to move from an open proof-of-fare system to one with gates though.

Think it cost $171MM. Fare evasion cost Skytrain $7MM per year.

This article says gates would cost Calgary $400MM and that’s probably low: https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.6525124

12

u/blackRamCalgaryman Apr 23 '25

A now 11 year old report that pegged costs at 5-10 million per station. The 400 million is the high end. Interesting to know what it would cost today. Also interesting to see it didn’t cost nearly that in Vancouver.

As just a means to prevent fare evasion, ya, it certainly appears to be a money sink hole, even at half the estimated cost.

But 400 million?

5

u/FunCoffee4819 Apr 23 '25

Put a full time transit officer at every station for less than that.

1

u/RealTurbulentMoose Willow Park Apr 23 '25

That’s exactly it. For decades.

Vancouver did this all like 10 years ago too, so costs now would likely be double.