When rapid transit came to Calgary, it was known as the LRT. But skeptics had a different interpretation of the initials: Little Ralphiesa国际传媒 Train.聽
It was a light-hearted jab at then-mayor Ralph Klein, who was in office when the trains started rolling on May 25, 1981. It was seen by other Calgarians as something from the future, a sign of our little city growing up.聽
I was excited to ride the LRT on opening day, my friends and I skipping our Grade 12 classes that Monday to zoom into history. We had to dodge TV camera crews who were prowling our car, lest our truancy be revealed to our parents that night at 5 p.m.聽
My friend Kevin yelled out, 鈥榃e love C-Train!鈥 Then hid behind a pole to make sure his parents Ray and Laura wouldn鈥檛 see him on television.聽
Whenever sa国际传媒 city councillor Gord Lovegrove talks up the potential of LRT for sa国际传媒, which is often, with him again bringing up the idea at Mondaysa国际传媒 meeting, I think about this happy little memory.聽
Then I snap back to reality and think, 鈥榃hat the heck is Gord talking about?鈥
In 1981, Calgary had half a million people. There aren鈥檛 even that many people now in the Okanagan, let alone sa国际传媒. The smallest city in Canada with an LRT system is Kitchener-Waterloo, with about 300,000 people, double sa国际传媒sa国际传媒 size, and situated midway between Toronto and Hamilton.聽
If theresa国际传媒 a city anywhere in the world with sa国际传媒sa国际传媒 low population density that has an LRT system, I can鈥檛 find it on the Internet. And that just relates to the enormous ridership problem, never mind the mind-boggling expense required to acquire the necessary rights-of-way and buy the trains.聽
If Lovegrove seriously thinks LRT is even remotely feasible or desirable or cost-efficient for sa国际传媒 within the next century or three, well, hesa国际传媒 a much better dreamer than the engineer he often mentions that he is.聽
Transit fans always clamour for more public funding for bus systems, and even free ridership. I doubt many of them know that sa国际传媒sa国际传媒 regional transit system has already had its budget beefed up from $9 million in 2005 to almost $30 million this year.
Thatsa国际传媒 a 333 per cent increase in transit funding that far outstrips both the citysa国际传媒 overall population increase over the same period of 53 per cent, and the actual ridership increase of 200 per cent.聽Those riders don't even pay a third of the system's actual operating costs, so a massive subsidy from taxpayers, many of whom never set foot on a bus, is necessary.
A lot of the ridership increase has been driven by better planning of bus routes, rider-friendly technological improvements, and the citysa国际传媒 well-stated if not universally embraced preference for big multi-family housing developments over new single-family homes.聽
The Uber-like test of an On Demand bus system in the Crawford neighborhood of sa国际传媒 this summer, the first of its kind in sa国际传媒, has the potential to see shuttle buses scurrying around residential neighbourhoods throughout the province. Using smaller buses to serve people where they actually live and work is the direct opposite approach to building an insanely costly fixed-line light rail transit system.聽
Lovegrovesa国际传媒 endless and unrealistic promotion of LRT for sa国际传媒 reminds me of The Simpsonsa国际传媒 episode where Springfield was visited by a monorail salesmen. He convinces the town they are deserving of mass transit despite all evidence to the contrary.聽
Townsfolk are so giddy they break into song, before Lisa Simpson asks the monorail man: 鈥淚鈥檇 like you to explain why we should build a mass transit system in a small town with a centralized population.鈥
He laughs and says he could give her an answer, but she鈥檇 be the only one smart enough in Springfield to understand it. Flattered, she giggles, and the monorail is built. Itsa国际传媒 a fiery calamity of course, with Homer at the controls, but Spock and a giant donut save the day.聽
I know Lovegrovesa国际传媒 one-man campaign for a sa国际传媒 LRT won鈥檛 get it built. But he might eventually pester his peers so much they agree to fund an expensive city study on the idea, every penny of which would be wasted.聽
All councillors have their hobbyhorses, of course. Ron Cannansa国际传媒 is needling Mayor Tom Dyas to lay the groundwork for his own mayoral run in 2024. Dyas鈥 is trying to squelch dissent. Mohini Singhsa国际传媒 is pandering to farmers. Loyal Wooldridgesa国际传媒 is repeating every bit of progressive jargon.聽
Rick Webbersa国际传媒 is angling for a soundbite. Luke Stacksa国际传媒 is veering from the right-winger that got him elected in the first place. Charlie Hodgesa国际传媒 is being greener than everyone else. Maxine DeHartsa国际传媒 is saying every issue is hard for her to decide.聽
Those may be drawbacks. But they are also a group of committed, intelligent, and thoughtful people who take reasonable care to protect the public purse. Thatsa国际传媒 why, at some point, one of them has to simply point out that their colleaguesa国际传媒 obsession with LRT is just Lovegrovesa国际传媒 Ridiculous Tomfoolery.聽
Ron Seymour is a sa国际传媒 Courier reporter.聽
