Some Calgary city councillors suspect a move to end the city’s downtown free fare zone will be derailed when it comes up for a vote next week. The measure, passed by a 7-4 vote in the Infrastructure and Planning Committee earlier this month, would end the 45-year-old practice of waiving transit fees along the 7th Avenue corridor.
Councillors on both sides of the debate say they wouldn’t be surprised if the change, which is based on increasing safety and raising much-needed funds for transit, comes to a halt. Ward 2 Coun. Jennifer Wyness, who voted on the committee to end the free fare, said she now believes the free fare will remain. “Supporters of the change were firm at committee, I don’t know if they’ll turtle,” she said.
Zone Arrived with CTrain
The free fare zone has been a fixture of Calgary’s public transit system since the CTrain began operations in 1981. It allows passengers to hop on and off the LRT along 7th Avenue, from City Hall-Bow Valley College station to Downtown West-Kerby station, without purchasing a fare. City administrators are recommending its removal.
On May 8, despite opposition from downtown-area business groups and transit users, the committee voted 7-4 to scrap the zone. If council upholds that decision on Tuesday, CTrain users will begin paying to ride along the downtown corridor starting Aug. 1.
Since the committee vote, there has been a surge of public opposition against the change, council members say. Ward 9 Coun. Harrison Clark, who is not on the committee, said, “It’s really gained a lot of attention from Calgarians and it should … they’ve made it clear in very large numbers that it should stay.” Clark noted he is not convinced making users pay would improve safety and pointed out that the rest of the LRT network operates on an honour system.
Council Dynamics
Ward 4 Coun. DJ Kelly said the policy is unpopular among councillors not on the committee. “Just about every person who doesn’t sit on that committee feels the same way I do,” Kelly said. “It’s going to be a lot tighter than the committee vote.” Eight votes on the 15-member council would be needed to defeat the motion.
Mayor Jeromy Farkas, who is not on the committee, has already expressed opposition to the change, saying he is not convinced of the accuracy of models showing $5 million in annual revenue increases from eliminating the free fare zone.
