The fares for Calgary Transit passes and tickets have gone up this year; what are the prices and the reasons?
Amanda Bradley, Calgary Transit relations specialist/spokesperson works in communications with Calgary Transit. She communicates with all of the different parts of Calgary Transit to talk about the changes in routes, schedule and revenue. She does not do the actual planning.
Bradley said that the fares continue to go up every year because of fuel and other costs of the Calgary Transit. The fares in 2022 are $112 instead of $109 dollars for monthly passes and $3.60 instead of $3.50 for the individual tickets.
The change was actually approved for 2021 but because of the pandemic they pushed it back to 2022 instead. “We were sensitive to the financial situation of the city,” said Bradley.
Bradley said that the Calgary Transit anticipates the amount to change each year by looking at the value that customers bring. She said that they always try to make it fair and manageable. 50% of the revenue from the fare is for parking as well, said Bradley.
Vera, the desk supporter at The Mustard Seed, said that the people that live in their shelters do not worry about the increase in passes because they can get low-income bus passes.
Shelter users can visit the Calgary Municipal building (New City Hall of Calgary) or the Village Square Leisure Centre to apply in person by filling out a form. They can apply at any time during the year. If they have all of the information they need on hand, they can get it right away.
Bus fares are determined by their income taxes which comes from specifically their household income, said Vera.
“We were sensitive to the financial situation of the city.” – Amanda Bradley, Calgary Transit
The Mustard Seed is familiar with the program to inform the people that they are helping. Other than that, the City of Calgary does not do a lot of advocating for people that would need it that don’t live in shelters said Bradley.
There are three options for low-income bus passes, which are provided by Fair Entry (a program for the low-income citizens of Calgary). Band A offers a monthly pass be only $5.60 per month, Band B would be $39.00, and Band C sees users pay $56.00 per month. The City of Calgary bring those prices up.
