Calgary's new cycle track network a good example for Langley City to follow

One of the things that I’ve been advocating for in Langley City is the creation of a cycling track network through my community. Building a community where people can safely get around by walking and cycling just makes sense to me.

Supporting active transportation options is cost effective, good for business, improves the environment, and creates positive health outcomes. Cycling is also an affordable, accessible transportation option. In a community like Langley City, this is important.

I know there is a demand for cycling in Langley, but there isn’t a safe network for people to use. Most people will only cycling on off-street trails, and on bike lanes that are separated from moving autos. Of course these trails and separated lanes actually have to go to places where people want to travel, and be a complete network. The current piecemeal approach to building cycling infrastructure will not encourage more cycling.

When I lived in Calgary back in the early 2000s, cycling infrastructure was nominal in Calgary’s downtown core. Last year when I was in Calgary, I noticed that they installed one separated bike lane along one of their downtown streets. I’m back in Calgary this week, and noticed they’ve built a complete separated bike lane network seemingly overnight!

Cycling is a cost effective way for both government and individuals to get around. In a presentation about deploying a pilot cycling track (separated bike lane) network in Calgary’s downtown core, it is noted that spending $10 million could build a 330 stall parkade which would serve about 435 people per day. That same $10 million could build around 8 kilometres of cycling track which would serve 2,700 people per day.

Based on the experience of that first separated bike lane, Calgary is now investing $9.38 million to build a 7.3km cycling track network in its downtown core. They expect to see a 2 to 3 times increase in cycle ridership in the first year of the network being in service, with 20% growth in ridership in subsequent years.

New cycling track network in green. Select map to enlarge.

I decided to take some pictures of the new cycle track network. These pictures show the various ways you can configure cycling lanes which makes people feel safer.

Two-way cycle track. Select image to enlarge.

Detailed information on health outcomes and built environment released

Earlier this year, I posted about My Health My Community. This is a comprehensive research project between Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, Fraser Health Authority, and the eHealth Strategy Office at UBC. The research looks at built environment, lifestyle choices, poverty, and health status. This research shows links between how we live, where we live, and how that influences health outcomes.

The My Health My Community project just released community level statistics for Metro Vancouver.

For example, in the City of Vancouver only 32.7% of the population commutes by car to work or school, and 38.1% walks or cycles when running errands. 15.2% of the population is obese.

In the Township of Langley 80.7% of the population commutes to work or school by car, and only 6.6% of the population walks or cycles when running errands. 29% of the population in the Township is obese.

The community statistics include other lifestyle indicators as well. In the City of Langley 15.1% of the population binge drinks at least monthly, and 18.3% of the population smokes. In Surrey, excluding South Surrey, 17.2% of the population binge drinks, and 11.2% of the population smokes.

The My Health My Community website also has infographics on the results of the study at the regional and community level.

 Infographic on Built Environment in Surrey. Select graph to enlarge.

Infographic on Health Behaviours in Metro Vancouver. Select graphic to enlarge.

There is a lot of great information on the My Health My Community website. Hopefully it will help community leaders understand the health implications of the design of communities, and access to services within our communities in Metro Vancouver.

If at-grade light rail does the job for Calgary, it will for Surrey too

In late April, I posted about a “leaked” memo from the Township of Langley’s Transportation Engineering department. The memo writer expressed some concerns about light rail in the South of Fraser. The short of it is that there is a belief that light rail would not meet performance targets because it is not built up in the sky, or buried underground.

While not explicitly in the Township’s Transportation Engineering memo, I know some have expressed concerns about the safety of light rail. Because light rail will run parallel to Fraser Highway, some believe it will create unsafe intersections and slow down cars.

This week I’m in Calgary. Calgary Transit has been operating light rail for the past 34 years. Calgary’s system has the highest light rail ridership in Canada and the US. The Calgary light rail network runs in grade separated right-of-ways and at-grade. The busiest section of Calgary’s light rail network runs at-grade with surface crossings.

Calgary light rail system provides consistent travel times. In Downtown Calgary, signals are timed to allow the smooth flow for light rail riders, cyclists, pedestrians, and motorists. Along 36 St NE, light rail traffic is prioritized at intersections.

Yes, there are occasional collisions between light rail vehicles and autos, but they are so few and far between, it is front page news when it happens.

As the saying goes, a picture is worth 1,000 words. I snapped some pictures of Calgary's CTrain network around Downtown Calgary, and in the inner neighbourhood of Kensington, to show how light rail interacts at various at-grade intersections. I also snapped a picture showing how light rail stations can blend into the context of any sized neighbourhood.

CTrain about to cross 5 Ave SW in Downtown Calgary. Track Parallels 9 St SW. Note crossing barrier.

7 Ave SW and 2 St SW Intersection in Downtown Calgary.

The problem with the Compass Card and other systems like it

During the Metro Vancouver Transportation and Transit Plebiscite, the top reason that I heard why people were voting no was because they didn’t trust TransLink. While three recent massive SkyTrain shutdowns, and the CEO snafu earlier this year didn’t help built confidence in the agency, it is the delayed launch of the Compass Card system that really seems to have gotten under people’s skin.

The irony of this whole mess is that the provincial government actually forced TransLink to install faregates and the Compass Card system. It was also the provincial government that required the plebiscite. So if we end up with a No outcome, the province is at least partially responsible for that outcome.

Most transit smartcard systems throughout North America had a rough start fraught with delays, cost over-runs, and contractual challenges.

Transit agencies in North America with smartcard systems deployed on buses require people to tap a reader when they board a bus. TransLink added a twist by requesting a system that could be used by people to tap a reader when they board a bus, and tap it again when they get off a bus.

This system was designed to allow automatic calculation of zones travel. The design would also allow TransLink to move to a distance-based fare system in the future. By having a tap-on/tap-off system, TransLink would also get more detailed information about transit service utilization.

The biggest mistake that TransLink made when deploying the Compass Card system was thinking that they would be different than other North American transit agency; somehow being able to have a smooth and fast smartcard system roll out. This considering the added tap-off complexity.

TransLink recently announced that they are restarting the roll out of Compass Card to transit users. U-Pass holders will be using Compass Card this month. West Coast Express customers can get the Compass Card starting this month. TransLink indicated that it may be moving to a tap-on only system for buses as it rolls out the system to more users. Problems with tapping-off on buses was delaying the launch.

Last year, I posted about Calgary Transit’s CONNECT smartcard system. Like the Compass Card, the project started back in 2009.

The Calgary Transit CONNECT smartcard project was supposed to have been launching in the summer of 2012. This didn’t happen. At the same time, the project went over budget. Things got so bad that Calgary Transit ripped out all of the smartcard readers from its buses and the CTrain system, and cancelled the project.

Things started up again in late 2013 when Calgary and its smartcard vendor agreed to a new contract. The system was reinstalled, and was scheduled to be in-service sometime in late 2014.

This week I’m back in Calgary, and I see that the CONNECT smartcard system is still not in service.

According to a March 2015 article in the Calgary Herald, Calgary Transit is taking its time to get the roll out right.

“We are being diligent with our testing,” Collins said Tuesday. “We want to ensure the electronic fare collection system works well for our customers before we launch it.”

The Calgary Transit website states that “a launch date will be announced once the system has passed testing. We want to ensure we are providing customers with a reliable, easy-to-use and convenient system.”

A little further away in Toronto, the Presto Card smartcard project was started back in 2007. The Toronto Transit Commission is expecting the system to be fully rolled out on its network in 2016.

If there is a lesson to be learned, it is that smartcard payment systems are highly-complex, and can take close to a decade to fully implement. Promising a system that will function in a shorter time frame will only lead to frustration and upset customers.

It will be interesting to see who will be first to roll out their smartcard system to most transit users, Calgary Transit or TransLink. So far, TransLink is winning.