Cities prepare for transit changes with official launch of BRT links

Be ready. Max is only a few days away.

Politicians from all three levels of government were on Thursday for the official cup of Calgary's three most recent bus rapid transit routes.

The three intercity routes, named Max Orange, Max Purple and Max Teal, will be out on the streets next Monday.

The North Crosstown line, which connects Brentwood to Saddletowne, should be referred to as the Max Orange line.

17th Avenue S.E. The BRT line will connect downtown and East Hills and will carry the Max Purple brand.

The South Crosstown Road, which will connect Westbrook to Douglas Glen, will be called the Max Teal Line.

Investment in the construction of a modern city

Mayor Naheed Nenshi said the new roads will allow transit users to get where they want to go faster and more directly.

"I have to cut a lot of ribbons in my work.I can open a lot of things.But it's one of the most special ones for me personally," Nenshi said.

"The key to transit is to connect the places where people live where they want to go."

The key to public transit is connecting the places where people live where they want to go.– Mayor Naheed Nenshi

The provincial government provided $ 116.2 million for bus rapid transit lines.

Alberta Transportation Minister Brian Mason said it was a major investment in the construction of a modern city.

"People can move quickly and safely, we reduce congestion, we reduce pollution and help people get where they need to be, whether for work, visiting family, or doing business. shopping safely, efficiently and quickly, "said Mason. .

The federal government has injected $ 42.5 million into the Public Transit Capital Fund on the BRT lines.

Completion of the Transitway

As part of the project, a new Transitway with dedicated bus lanes was constructed in the middle of 17th Avenue S.E.

The Transitway includes three separate bridges that carry bus lanes on Deerfoot Trail, the Bow River and an irrigation cbad.

Doug Morgan, director of Calgary Transit, said that even though the latest alterations, such as landscaping, are being completed, the new routes will come into service next Monday.

"We have been training on the Transitway for two and a half weeks. Our drivers had to go up and down to see what was going on. Everything went well, Morgan said.

The arrival of the new routes marks the end of the construction of the new Transitway and new transit shelters along the other routes.

Alison Karim-McSwiney, head of International Avenue's business improvement area, said that 17th Avenue had been undergoing a long-overdue transformation.

It includes wider sidewalks, new lighting and each Max station was dressed in public art by artists living in the area.

"I think everyone is absolutely rosy and the infrastructure is outstanding, I think people will be very excited to see how it all goes," she said.

Discover new routes, a new service

Many specially painted buses feature the Max Orange, Violet and Teal colors, but most buses on the routes will be regular transit vehicles.

Morgan suggests that transit users check if their usual routes change.

Next Monday will mark one of the biggest days of changes in public transit routes in the history of the organization.

"We have a new website so that they can see what their new trip looks like, we will have an army that will talk to Calgary Transit officials and try to help people on their way." discover the new routes and the new service, "said Morgan.

A fourth route Max, the southwestern BRT, remains under construction.

Its commissioning is scheduled for next autumn.