Ridership on Calgary Transit Increased in 2013

The numbers are in, and Calgary Transit set another record in 2013, by carrying a total of 107.5 million customers. From 2012 this was 5.5 million or five per cent more than the number of transit riders in 2012.

There has been a 12 per cent increase in ridership over the past three years, which is double the rate of Calgary's population growth during this period. These numbers show that more Calgarians are catching the bus or hoping on the train, and they are doing it more often.

Many factors are believed to have contributed to this, one of them is strong economic growth in the city. The economic growth has led to more employment opportunities, in December 2013 there were 29,000 more Calgarians working than at the end of 2012.

Extending the blue line has increased ridership on the northeast line by 12 per cent and a 11 per cent ridership gain in the total west Calgary service area.

Adding more service hours was another key factor that led to more Calgarians using transit. An increase of 2.5 per cent, which totals 69,000 new service hours were added in 2013.

Using debit and credit cards to purchase LRT fares grew by one million trips.

Calgary Transit found that ridership amongst adults and post secondary students increased in 2013, there were 5.8 million more trips made by adult monthly pass holders. Customers using low income passes made just over one million additional trips from 2012.

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