Calgary Transit requests additional operating and capital funding

Despite an increased capital and operating budget next year, Calgary Transit will continue to face funding pressures as it aims to boost service levels and frequency, its director Sharon Fleming has said.

The agency’s net operating budget is going up from $391 million to $417 million next year, while its capital costs are rising from $217 million to $306 million. Transit officials are asking for another $14 million in ongoing operating funding to support the RouteAhead strategy, and $1.5 million in ongoing capital expenditures to support maintenance and repair of the CTrain traction power service.

RouteAhead’s service level targets include 10-minute frequency, 15 hours a day, seven days a week on Calgary’s primary transit network.

Director Fleming added transit funding in 2026 won’t address some of the capital needs required to improve frequency for Calgary Transit’s “base” network — the local community bus routes that transport passengers to the city’s primary transit network. Next year’s funding also doesn’t include $45 million needed to procure enough buses to achieve its service level targets.

In May, Fleming told council the city would need to spend an additional $15 million a year in operating costs and $45 million annually in capital expenditures over the next decade to reach targets in RouteAhead. The agency is also facing significant capital projects in the next decade, including a new $500-million bus maintenance and storage facility to replace the current bus barn in Victoria Park, and construction of the Green Line LRT.

Calgary’s transit operating contribution is $261 per capita, while Vancouver’s is $772 and Toronto’s is $798, due largely to higher provincial support.

The 2026 budget includes $25 million in one-time funds from the city’s reserves to cover increased costs associated with the low-income transit pass, compared to $19 million from reserves last year.

Cost recovery at the fare box is only 35 per cent, Chabot noted, while 65 per cent of transit costs are paid for by property taxes.

Source: Calgary Transit