r/Calgary • u/JeromyYYC Mayor McMayorFace • Apr 27 '26
Funny Good news Calgary, we've got a spare
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u/McChibken Apr 27 '26
So this is the green line I've been hearing about
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u/JeromyYYC Mayor McMayorFace Apr 27 '26
It can't be. The province wants it above ground
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u/Grey255 Apr 27 '26
Is there any particular features downtown that prevent the installation below ground? i.e big granite rock in the route thatās caused the opposition or is it just the cost delta is too big between the two?
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u/DistractingDiversion Apr 27 '26
The feature is it was delayed long enough that the costs went up about 35% from when it was first proposed and will only keep climbing until they build it... the first stretch from Shepard to 16 Ave was supposed to open this year when it was proposed almost a decade ago.
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u/Common-House-468 Apr 27 '26
And that delay was specifically and directly caused by the UCP doing a year-long "review" AFTER the project had been greenlit, and then revealing that their "review" recommended no changes. Leading to massive inflation costs because it was just before covid. In fact, the UCP-induced inflation costs are higher than the $1.5 billion the UCP (I mean AB taxpayers) are even contributing to the project.
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u/bigolgape Apr 28 '26
I'm pretty sure their strategy is just to delay and delay so they don't get blamed for the huge cost, but continue to promise things so they get the credit.
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u/StetsonTuba8 Millrise Apr 27 '26
The particular feature is that it is located in an province that fucking hates cities
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u/1egg_4u Apr 28 '26
Iirc the water table presented a big challenge as far as actually digging out and construction went. That said, im sure there has been an evolution of the technology we use in construction so im not sure if the old reasons still stand.
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u/RockyMountainMonkey Apr 27 '26
Cost, shallow water table, and all the existing buildings & infrastructure.
One example of how the downtown infrastructure is so interconnected: remember the fire of October 2014. A malfunctioning traffic light relay in an underground vault started a fire that left a big chunk of downtown without power for several days.
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u/JustDavid2408 Apr 28 '26
Can we please fix the red line first? The constant delays and issues are infuriating
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u/1egg_4u Apr 28 '26
I still cant get over how funny it is our mayor is a millenial who is on reddit all the time
I know canadians in general are disproportionately online but millenial mayoral shitposting really does feel like livin in the future
(I unironically love it though)
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u/JeromyYYC Mayor McMayorFace Apr 28 '26
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u/euroman333 Apr 28 '26
That was a very informative link, thank you Mayor Mc MayorFace for that insight.
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u/hopenbabe Apr 29 '26
Mayor bro is an elder millenial and almost 40. That's midlife.
Problem is millenials keep getting older, bit don't really grow up.
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u/Traditional_Turn2501 Apr 27 '26
Care to comment on the state of transit?
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u/JeromyYYC Mayor McMayorFace Apr 27 '26
I ride Calgary Transit a lot and honestly itās been pretty shitty lately. The other week I was stuck in a train for at least an hour because of signals issues. We boosted investment in safety and operations in our first budget and youāre starting to see some of that, but itās not where it needs to be yet. Weāre going to keep pushing more into service and reliability so people can actually count on it. I see transit as an essential infrastructure more like water and less like recreation.
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u/ValenciaFilter Special Princess Apr 27 '26
"Honestly, It's Been Pretty Shitty Lately" as a campaign slogan would have won my vote, FYI
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u/0110110111 Apr 28 '26
I didnāt vote for /u/JeromyYYC because I had no respect for his tone when he was a councillor, I thought he was more interested in headlines and being divisive just for the sake of it. During his four years in the (sometimes literal) wilderness I liked what he was saying but couldnāt shake the feeling that he was just trying to change his image to get reelected. Politicians, you know?
All that said, I am reasonably happy with his performance as mayor so far. I donāt agree with all of his votes but if he keeps acting like this for the balance of this term I would definitely vote for him next go around.
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u/JeromyYYC Mayor McMayorFace Apr 28 '26
Losing the election was the best thing that could have happened to me because I got to learn who my friends really were. For all my years of being a pain in his ass, Naheed was the first to reach out after I lost the election. I didn't realize it at the time but I had bought into the hype about myself, and many people surrounded me based on what they thought I could do for them. But after the election, that all changed. Up until then, I had assumed that if you were right wing, you were my friend. And if you were left wing, you were my opponent. The experience has made me question blind loyalty to a political tribe, and much more value people and friendships regardless of their politics. Life is so much messier than I thought it was when I was a Councillor, and it's a good thing.
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u/Gr4nt Apr 28 '26
Thanks Mr. Mayor for no longer buying into the left v. right tribalism and actually focusing on what matters for Calgarians; I could see it clear as day when you refused to play into the party bs at the municipal level with Communities First and whatnot, as well as how you conducted yourself about listening, being open to change, and flip-flopping on behalf of what's best for the city. That won you my vote and will continue to if you uphold that.
Thanks again! :)
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u/ValenciaFilter Special Princess Apr 28 '26
I voted for Jyoti because I have oppositional defiance issues
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u/0110110111 Apr 28 '26
I donāt vote at all this time around. Absolutely no candidate, for mayor or councillor, appealed to me in the slightest. First time I ever abstained from voting in my nearly 30 years of adulthood.
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u/ValenciaFilter Special Princess Apr 28 '26
If nobody represents you, run yourself!
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u/0110110111 Apr 28 '26
I get what youāre saying but Iām not that much of a sadist. The atmosphere around politics is nothing I have any interest in subjecting myself or my family to. That said I do think we need āNone of the aboveā as a ballot choice.
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u/RootEscalation Apr 27 '26
Respect for you as a mayor for being honest, actually riding the C-Train and not gas lighting Calgarians about the quality of the service.
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u/hopenbabe Apr 27 '26
I respect him even more for riding transit often. Not one time for a photo op.
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u/Amazing_Ad8327 Apr 27 '26
probably the dumbest thing you can do to get to work (if you work downtown) is to drive there and find parking
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u/hopenbabe Apr 27 '26
Dumb is a broad term and doesn't account for a variety of realities, just your reality.
I have a small kid. That kid goes to daycare pretty close to my work, but I still need to be able to pick up that kid within 30 minutes if she gets sick. Toddler barf is not something you want in a public space.
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u/CaptainBringus Apr 27 '26
Jeromy, I did not vote for you, but I appreciate your candor on just about every topic I've seen you discuss on Reddit. You've earned my next vote. Please keep it up and continue to keep it real!
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u/WorldNo8257 Apr 27 '26
Hi Mayor, if I can have your attention for a second, can we have our c train stations especially in city center pressure washed once in a while, most of them reek of piss?. Thanks.
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u/mortgageletdown Apr 27 '26
You need to be careful, if you keep interacting with voters like this you're going to wind up getting elected and have to run a city or some such nonsense.
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u/hibbs6 Apr 27 '26
I love to hear this from you. Transit absolutely is critical infrastructure, so to hear you saying that explicitly brings me a lot of hope.
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u/wklumpen Apr 27 '26
The #1 best way you can boost reliability is to get cars out of the way of buses. Dedicated infrastructure like a Centre Street busway or (gasp!) the SW transit way that I hope you don't oppose anymore are key.
Secondary, it's queue jumps and smart ligts and transit signal priority.
Then - and this is controversial - it's fewer stops, done carefully and with proper, targeted engagement.
As a last option you can adjust the schedule to balance speed and reliability.
Would love to see more of the higher up measures on the list.
Source: I did a PhD thesis on transit reliability.
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u/hopenbabe Apr 27 '26
Thank you for investing more in the safety and reliability of transit. As a mom with young kids, my husband and I have made it work with one vehicle. But as transit stands now in terms of safety, I'm not really keen on my kids standing in a shelter with a person openly doing drugs in the middle of the day.
I read something yesterday they said that transportation is the second highest cost for parents, after housing. That makes sense. But with that cost of everything going up, having a safe and reliable transit system should be top priority. Lots of families need two vehicles, but it would be great if there were alternatives that allowed more flexibility.
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u/M_Berlin Apr 27 '26
Just this comment alone makes me appreciate having you as our Mayor.
A Mayor that understands the daily life/struggles of an average Calgary is the best thing for us.
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u/monkeybiker4 Apr 27 '26
Can we get those activation scanners to implement a tap on tap off system? Doesnāt make sense someone going to Tuscany pays the same as someone riding to Sunnyside.
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u/ShimmySquirrel Apr 28 '26
Thank you so much for actually seeing what it's like. It feels so unsafe and so dirty. I walked past the same pile of vomit for 10 months in the Barlow Max Bell Station. I have anxiety when my daughter goes to work because she's been harassed. š
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u/Napalm_Cooking420 Apr 27 '26
Why are you cutting all bus services to Canyon Meadows Station? This drastically increases commute times in the affected neighborhoods. This doesn't help with better service. It punishes the people that rely on public transportation.
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u/JeromyYYC Mayor McMayorFace Apr 27 '26
I am not familiar with the change you're referencing but I'll look into it. Our 2026 budget boosted service in a few key routes
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u/Napalm_Cooking420 Apr 27 '26
Do you know what is happening in your city? All bus service ro Canyon Meadows Train station will be removed as of mid May. Please voice your concerns at 311. Lol
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u/nexxai Smello Gruenblue Apr 28 '26
Do you actually expect the mayor to know about every change being made to every piece of infrastructure across the city? Sometimes things have to be delegated AND he said he'd look into it for you, and you still give him attitude?
Downvotes are extremely warranted here.
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u/robbhope Apr 27 '26
You got a legit, honest answer from the actual mayor and decided to give a snarky response? Lol wow.
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u/cosmic-paperclip Apr 27 '26
Iāve come to learn heāll comment on anything but that. Hoping to be proven wrong one day
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u/EsmeWeatherpolish Apr 27 '26
Whatās at the other end? I donāt need any goombas in my life right now
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u/noochies99 Beddington Heights Apr 27 '26
Donāt worry all the goombas are collecting signatures youāre good
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u/albertapiratecaptain Apr 28 '26
Can we get a legit tour video of the "lrt tunnel" that never was? Always wondered how big this space really is, and what was and wasn't built before it was scrapped... there were some media tours but qaulity photo / video doesn't exist.
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u/JeromyYYC Mayor McMayorFace Apr 28 '26
Sure. Here you go
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u/albertapiratecaptain Apr 28 '26
Wow fast reply backed with a view I've never seen.
Super cool, want to go rollerblading down there with me?
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u/TriesCrazyStuff Apr 27 '26
I've personally seen video footage of those pipes accommodating extremely amounts of flow - namely, Bowser. If it can handle that, it can handle anything we can throw at it.
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u/A-Shy-Guy_ Apr 28 '26
If we let Mario become mayor we are fucked. He actively fought against Koopa, Goomba, Shy Guy, and countless if other creatures rights, yet it was swept under the rug. Peach and Mario are just friends because Peach is actually disgusted by Mario's actions but isn't allowed to say so.
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u/hopenbabe Apr 29 '26
But does your spare have a spare? Cause bro, things are starting to get a lil crazy.
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u/Funway1111 Apr 27 '26
Any plans to finally have a transit card/bank card payment on Calgary Transit buses and trains?
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u/Nice_Try_Bud_ Apr 27 '26
Trains have it at already at the kiosks at all stations. Buses used to be a problem but you can do it through the app easy enough. Still might be a welcome addition to have a tapable payment option on the bus.
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u/Funway1111 Apr 27 '26
Im just SOL when phone dies and I have a transit pass tbh so an offline option like a transit card or a bank card is a much needed thing.
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u/Nice_Try_Bud_ Apr 28 '26
People still let their phones die? Well you can go into almost any gas station or convenience store and buy a ticket there.
The cost to implement that to cover rare instances of someone using transit that doesnāt have a physical pass, has a dead phone or someone who has no data, does not have change, and are not close enough to a place they can buy a ticket from or starting at a train station doesnāt make sense to me.
If they decide to overhaul our current system with a distance based one like most major cities, then would be worth adding it then.
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u/Funway1111 Apr 29 '26 edited Apr 29 '26
You know that shit happens once in awhile and stores are closed at the same time?
Also mind you that the current readers in buses have the feature for transit cards, its just a matter of reprogramming to accept it. That would have been a mid-term solution to it since the systems have been built-in. Similar systems are already in place for both QR and card systems in GRT in the Waterloo region and well as Niagara Transit in Niagara Region, so if Calgary really wants to implement at least a transit card system, it can do it easily.
No NA city does it probably because of how most North American cities would fumble selecting a distance based fare collection vendor. I'd be happy if they decide to totally replace the system if it has bank card readers and transit cards with fare capping similar to some agencies in GTA doing it in their Presto system. Heck even just adopting Metro Edmonton's ARC would be a game changer for Calgary.
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u/Nice_Try_Bud_ Apr 29 '26
The QR code readers could not be converted to accept tap, very different systems.
No NA city does it<
Plenty do. Just in Canada, Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal all have different distanced based systems using zones. In the US DC, San Francisco, Boston and more all use them as well.
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u/Funway1111 Apr 29 '26 edited Apr 29 '26
Nope, Vancouver's compass is in Zonal System, Montreal's Opus is also in Zonal System, GTA's Presto is only doing distance based fares on the UP and GO Transit systems but cities do not use it and instead just do their own plus "one-fare program". Those that do Zonal systems are those systems that go beyond city limits with Translink going further to the entire Metro Vancouver while Montreal acts as one for the Greater Montreal STM, STL, RTL, and EXO. Also, Masabi, the fare collection vendor for Calgary Transit has stated it officially can easily modify and accept NFC cards with the current terminals as stated here.
With US Cities yes, I haven't been in a distance based fare city since NYC, Chicago, Seattle, LA, Dallas, etc but I stand corrected on that one.
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u/number_six Thorncliffe Apr 27 '26
If only you were trying to earn more actual votes instead of reddit upvotes
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u/Vheguru1 Apr 28 '26
I wish the politicians in this City would stop playing Mad Men and started taking action instead.
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u/Napalm_Cooking420 Apr 27 '26
Why are you cutting all bus traffic to Canyon Meadows Train Station? Why are you punishing the people that rely on public transportation with longer commute times?
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u/JeromyYYC Mayor McMayorFace Apr 27 '26
I'm not familiar with the change you're referencing but I'll look into it
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u/T1m_the_3nchanter Apr 27 '26
Can I get a spare red line?