Final Report Chestermere-Calgary Transit Feasibility Study City of Chestermere September 17, 2020 Final Report Chestermere-Calgary Transit Feasibility Study Contents 1 Context and Background Review ........................................................................................................ 3 1.1 Purpose ..................................................................................................................................... 3 1.2 Historical Plans and Council Direction ...................................................................................... 3 1.2.1 Chestermere Transportation Master Plan .................................................................... 4 1.2.2 Calgary Transportation Plan ........................................................................................ 4 1.2.3 Calgary Regional Transit Plan ..................................................................................... 4 1.2.4 The Route Ahead: A Strategic Plan for Transit in Calgary........................................... 4 1.2.5 Calgary Metropolitan Region Transit Background Report ........................................... 5 1.2.6 East-West Regional Transit Feasibility Planning ......................................................... 5 1.3 Peer Review .............................................................................................................................. 5 1.3.1 City of Beaumont .......................................................................................................... 6 1.3.2 City of Fort Saskatchewan ........................................................................................... 7 1.3.3 City of Spruce Grove .................................................................................................... 8 1.3.4 City of Airdrie ................................................................................................................ 9 1.3.5 Summary .................................................................................................................... 10 2 Service and Routing Options ............................................................................................................. 11 2.1 Option 1: Limited Peak Period Trips as an Extension of Calgary Transit’s MAX Purple Route ....................................................................................................................................... 11 2.2 Option 2: Express Route to Downtown Calgary with Several Stops in Chestermere ............. 12 2.3 Option 3 – Hybrid MAX Purple Extension with Several Stops in Chestermere ...................... 12 2.4 Servicing the Remainder of Chestermere ............................................................................... 12 3 Ridership Estimates .......................................................................................................................... 14 3.1 Experience Elsewhere ............................................................................................................. 14 3.1.1 City of Calgary Express Routes ................................................................................. 14 3.1.2 Edmonton Area Services ........................................................................................... 23 3.2 Chestermere Catchment ......................................................................................................... 23 3.3 East-West Regional Transit Feasibility Planning Survey ........................................................ 25 3.4 Ridership Estimates ................................................................................................................ 26 4 Cost and Revenue Estimates ............................................................................................................ 27 4.1 Annual Operating Costs .......................................................................................................... 27 4.2 Annual Revenue Estimate ....................................................................................................... 28 4.2.1 Fares .......................................................................................................................... 28 4.2.2 Annual Revenue ......................................................................................................... 28 4.3 Net Annual Cost ...................................................................................................................... 29 4.4 Service Option Recommendation ........................................................................................... 30 4.5 Capital Costs ........................................................................................................................... 30 5 Additional Considerations .................................................................................................................. 31 5.1 Fares ....................................................................................................................................... 31 5.2 Ticketing and Fare Collection .................................................................................................. 31 5.3 Transfers ................................................................................................................................. 31 5.4 Other Issues ............................................................................................................................ 32 5.5 Implementation Schedule ........................................................................................................ 32 5.6 Public Engagement ................................................................................................................. 32 September 17, 2020 | 1 Final Report Chestermere-Calgary Transit Feasibility Study Tables Table 1: Peer Review Summary ................................................................................................................. 10 Table 2: Ridership Characteristics – Calgary Express Routes ................................................................... 26 Table 3: Annual Costs for Calgary Transit Services ................................................................................... 27 Table 4: Range of Annual Revenue Estimates ........................................................................................... 29 Table 5: Net Annual Cost Estimates ........................................................................................................... 29 Table 6: Bus Stop Infrastructure Costs ....................................................................................................... 30 Figures Figure 1: Possible MAX Purple Extension Routing in Chestermere ........................................................... 11 Figure 2: Possible Routing of an Express Route in Chestermere .............................................................. 12 Figure 3: Route 62: Hidden Valley Express Pocket Schedule (Source: Calgary Transit) .......................... 16 Figure 4: Population within 400m of Route 62 Stops in Hidden Valley ...................................................... 16 Figure 5: Route 70: Valley Ridge Express Pocket Schedule (Source: Calgary Transit) ............................ 18 Figure 6: Population within 400m and 800m of Route 70 Stops in Valley Ridge ....................................... 18 Figure 7: Douglasdale Express Pocket Schedule (Source: Calgary Transit) ............................................. 20 Figure 8: Population within 400m and 800m of Route 102 Stops in Douglasdale...................................... 20 Figure 9: McKenzie Express Pocket Schedule (Source: Calgary Transit) ................................................. 22 Figure 10: Population within 400m and 800m of Route 103 Stops in McKenzie Lake ............................... 22 Figure 11: Population within 400m and 800m of Chestermere Proposed Single Stop .............................. 24 2 | September 17, 2020 Final Report Chestermere-Calgary Transit Feasibility Study 1 Context and Background Review The City of Chestermere and the City of Calgary collaboratively initiated a Transit Feasibility Study to enhance the connectivity between Chestermere and Calgary, and to support the work of the Chestermere-Calgary Intermunicipal Transit Committee (IMTC). 1.1 Purpose With a population of over 20,000, Chestermere is growing at a significant rate of 5.6% annually. Based on the 2017 Chestermere Municipal Census, the working-age population, aged 15-64 (including students attending university), constitutes about 70% of the total population. The majority of the population of Chestermere is within this age group and is composed of young families aged between 35 and 44. Seniors (65+) represent only about 7.1% of the total population. According to Statistics Canada, 83% of the working-age population of Chestermere commutes to work in a different City and 72% commute to Calgary specifically, yet the City of Chestermere boundary is 3km away from the nearest Calgary Transit service at East Hills1. About 94% of employed residents commute to work with a car, truck or van as either a driver or passenger. The lack of transit access for the large amount of commuters, post-secondary students and others that move daily between municipalities indicates a gap that needs to be filled with an efficient transportation system. Transit service that serves commuter and post- secondary traffic between Calgary and Chestermere can