Based on the success of Roam regional and original Banff municipal transit, we at the Outlook believe Canmore’s future adoption of a transit service should be, as they say, “a no brainer.”
Banff’s municipal system proved successful and Roam has been a qualified success thus far, including 62.5 per cent cost recovery, which is up from the national average, and increasing ridership.
While no dollar figures are yet available for a system, Canmore council should give the idea very careful consideration during fall budget talks.
Increasing transit, after all, would fit in nicely with Canmore/Bow Valley initiatives like solar hot water heating, early days of solar power incentives, recycling and LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) construction.
Several years ago, Professor Tang Lee of the University of Calgary’s faculty of environmental design made a presentation to BOWDA (Bow Valley Builders and Developers Association), part of which was in regard to mass transit.
During a Powerpoint presentation, Lee put up an image of Barcelona, Spain (population now 1.6 million), then proceeded to overlay an image of its transit system – which covered the city like a spiderweb. Clearly, transit was available to the vast majority of its citizens and ridership was staggering.
Lee then put up similar images of Calgary and Edmonton and their, by comparison, woeful efforts to offer transit to the masses. A handful of light rail lines were overlaid.
The images clearly showed that, unlike Barcelona, which had embraced mass transit for its citizens, Alberta cities hadn’t.
With municipal transit in Canmore, a more Barcelona-like experience could be had throughout the Bow Valley.
Locally, the Town of Banff was out front in embracing transit for its citizens, even though it’s a small, compact, walkable town. With its reliance on seasonal workers, though, who often don’t have cars when they arrive, transit helped make Banff an easier town to get around in.
When transit was expanded locally through Roam regional (with something of a leap of faith by both municipal governments that it would be embraced), ridership was immediately strong and shows no sign of letting up.
Should Canmore embrace municipal transit, as we believe it should, there would be quite a number of upsides to the move.
First, transit would mean fewer people would need to drive everywhere and add exhaust to our Rocky Mountain atmosphere.
Second, with transit buses roaming around Canmore and making regular stops, affordable housing options could be built almost anywhere, with the idea being that none would prove to be a hardship on those without vehicles, or those who choose not to rely on a vehicle.
Thirdly, municipal transit within Canmore would allow for easy transfers to Roam regional and thus increase bus travel between our two communities. A second upside here is that increasing the number of Canmorites travelling to Banff by bus to work could actually have a positive effect on reducing its traffic situation. In traffic/paid parking forums in Banff, the concern that Canmore commuters are taking up parking spots constantly arises.
And, for a commuter, the $80 per month Roam pass is easy to like – it can help cut down on fuel costs and vehicle maintenance and, in winter in particular, reduce window clearing and white knuckle drives on the Trans-Canada.
With a suitable municipal system in place in Canmore, easterly homes near Stewart Creek golf course would be an easy bus ride away from the Banff Springs Hotel, for example.
