Calgary Transit in the News February 2026

fairfaresyyc
5 hours ago
2 min read

Free Fare Zone Motion:

We are about to go into a new four year budget. One of the issues raised at the last budget talks in November is the free fare zone from the Kerby Centre to City Hall for people who use the LRT. It has existed since a 1979 pilot and became Calgary's signature during the Klein Era, when the LRT launched in 1981. In recent years, Calgary Transit has had a sponsor to help cover operational costs. It appears the City wants to assess whether the free fare zone is a valid service. However, Calgary Transit director Sharon Fleming talked about the pros and cons over the last few months of the free fare zone and warned “Less people will take transit” in the downtown core if the free fare zone is eliminated." In another article, Sharon Fleming also added that during budget deliberations and told council that Only a few cities in North America offer a free transit fare zone, one of which is Denver. She argued that removing the no-pay zone would make fare compliance easier to enforce for transit peace officers.

Increasing 90 Minutes Transfer Window to 2 hours:

In more news, City Councillor Ward 12 Mike Jamieson also created a motion 2026-EC-0042 to extend the transfer ticket time window from 90 minutes to 2 hours at the executive committee. If the motion passes, it goes before Council on February 24th, 2026. If the motion passes, it asks the city administration to report on the financial and ridership effects of such a move and to bring the assessment back to council by April 27, with fare policy and bylaw amendments made at council the next day. On X