Calgary is a fast-growing and ever-evolving global city, and our future prosperity hinges on making critical infrastructure investments that make this city work for current and future Calgarians.
We have, unfortunately, seen physical infrastructure challenges play out with the critical water main break and the associated negative impacts across the city. This has reinforced the fact that cities require ongoing capital investments – even more so as the fastest-growing city in the country.
To ensure Calgary meets the needs of current and future generations, investment is needed in long-term infrastructure that delivers economic, social and environmental benefits. These investments must be seen through a lens outside the electoral cycle.
Green Line LRT is one of these important investments. Beyond delivering long-overdue public transit, it serves as a catalyst for economic development, including the substantial investment in new housing that Calgary desperately needs. Remington’s latest residential development in Quarry Park points to the opportunity unlocked through accessible public transit.
The LRT will expand Calgary Transit’s network, connecting the southeast to downtown and serving Stampede Park, the new BMO Convention Centre and Scotia Place. The project has its fair share of critics – but that’s to be expected given inflation, interest, supply chains and other factors have conspired to drive up costs for all major infrastructure projects across Canada.
Over 90 per cent of Calgarians are in favour of Green Line – so while cost concerns are valid, the detractors are a case of the squeaky wheel getting the grease.
The first phase of the Green Line is already the biggest infrastructure investment in Calgary’s history. The project itself will create significant employment and economic benefits, but our economy’s productivity will ultimately reap the rewards. People able to move with less friction means businesses have greater access to labour and customers – without driving up the price of prime real estate. Commuters can use their transit time to be productive rather than sit in traffic – and if we get it right, travel time should be shorter by transit than car. Not to mention the reduced traffic collisions, lower emissions, and lighter wear-and-tear on our roads. All three orders of government – each with their own competing priorities – have acknowledged it is something we simply can’t afford not to do.
When Calgary is consistently ranked one of the world’s most livable cities, when local businesses thrive and global tech companies set up operations here, and when people from across Canada and around the world see this as a place of opportunity, one of the reasons they make that choice is because Calgary is a city that works.
And it needs to work for all Calgarians.
Calgary’s metro population grew by 96,000 people, a remarkable six per cent growth rate, and is expected to grow at close to the same rate this year. We are an economic engine for the country and a magnet for talent from around the world. But the young people we need to attract to propel our economy forward increasingly demand that their city have a modern transit system. Unlike their parents, they don’t want to depend on a car – and in an affordability crisis, this desire is heightened.
Calgary is a place that prides itself on equal opportunity – and the ability to move freely and affordably provides access to more employment opportunities, education, social networks and community activities. With two-thirds of new Calgarians immigrating from abroad (very few bringing their own vehicles), it’s critical that people feel connected – regardless of background, income level, or location – even as Calgary continues to sprawl.
Our city is also working tirelessly to bring people back downtown, from festivals and activations to residential conversions and infrastructure projects. But these efforts would be undermined without people being able to seamlessly come downtown and would serve only inner-city and already well-connected communities.
The fact that Calgary Transit has posted record ridership post-pandemic speaks to the continuing demand for fast, efficient transit for Calgarians.
With the main construction set to begin later this year, literally decades after it was first proposed, Green Line is submitting its latest report to the city council on Tuesday. We know costs have risen. The $4.9-billion budget has its roots in 2015, at a time when no one anticipated inflation rising to over eight per cent, nor sustaining such high levels for this long. We couldn’t have predicted the mass disruption to supply chains severely exacerbated by the pandemic, nor the rising cost of labour that has been plaguing businesses across sectors for years now.
While no one wants to spend more and get less than was originally envisioned, the business case for the project is still clear.
And to ensure the project leverages national and private sector expertise – and that it doesn’t get politicized – city council put in place an arms-length board of directors in charge of Green Line in 2021 comprised of business leaders from across the country experienced in delivering complex infrastructure projects. The board has a tall task, ensuring Green Line delivers value, meets the major business drivers for ridership and property development, aligns with city-building and regional transit strategies, and ensures this city works for all Calgarians.
With our growing City, the Green Line is inevitable – and it’s not going to get cheaper if we put it off. Delaying would also create a domino effect of rising costs on projects that depend on the Green Line, like links to YYC Calgary International Airport and regional networks in the Government of Alberta’s Passenger Rail Master Plan. The longer those projects wait on the sidelines, the more they’ll cost, too.
Great cities have great transit. With the record-breaking ridership demand, strong public support for investment in transit, and the need for infrastructure that keeps up with our growing population, this long overdue city-building project needs to move forward. We need to give the green light to the Green Line.
Deborah Yedlin is the CEO and president of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce.