Take Calgary Transit direct to the airport with Route 100

On March 14, Calgary Transit launched a brand new bus route that will take citizens right from the end of the northeast C-Train line (McKnight-Westwinds Station) directly to the Calgary International Airport. Route 100 takes you directly to departures in under a half hour and is a great route for both travelers and airport employees alike.

Naturally, I wanted to try the route out myself just to see how fast I could get to the airport from downtown Calgary using only public transit. With suitcase (just a prop--I'm not leaving town!) and media in tow, I walked from City Hall to the Centre Street Station and hopped on the train. After a few interviews and some photos with folks on the train, we soon made it to the McKnight-Westwinds Station and boarded Route 100 to make our way to the airport.

And from door to door, it took just under 50 minutes. Not bad.

Of course, this isn't the best solution for transit to the airport. The Airport Trail Underpass is designed to have space for a spur line from the northeast C-Train line to, but that could be a number of years into the future.

I'm more than happy to take photos with folks.
Fortunately a friendly journalist was on hand to take this shot.

With so many people (employees and travelers alike) needing to access our international airport, it's critical that we make it convenient for people to take whatever form of transportation they like. And with major congestion expected with the closure of Barlow Trail for the construction of the new airport runway, giving people the option to take public transit to the airport now (like with Route 100) is important.

We are also working on creating another direct bus route that will go from downtown Calgary to the airport. In my conversations with Calgary Transit, it looks like we can have this one in place by the 2011 Calgary Stampede!

If there's anything that deserves a Yahoo! it's that.

- Mayor Nenshi