North Calgary Transit Service

[kaput]

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[Unlaced]

Buses (301) are usually every 5-10 minutes during peak hours and 15 minutes during the middle of the day. From the 301 stop by Studio 16 to the stop in front of the Petro Canada building is around 30-40 minutes during peak hours and around 25-30 during the middle of the day. There are also other buses like the 142 that go straight to downtown. Usually if a bus is full there is another one right after it that is completely empty.

[black_2.5RS]

Originally posted by Unlaced
Buses (301) are usually every 5-10 minutes during peak hours and 15 minutes during the middle of the day. From the 301 stop by Studio 16 to the stop in front of the Petro Canada building is around 30-40 minutes during peak hours and around 25-30 during the middle of the day. There are also other buses like the 142 that go straight to downtown. Usually if a bus is full there is another one right after it that is completely empty.

+1

[Xtrema]

Just like any vehicles that travel centre st., you'll always get a few days in winter that take hrs to get to downtown due to traffic.

[luv2ride_bikes]

I have been taking the 301 bus for about 2 years now. It is great, just like the other poster said, it takes about 30 minutes from the Empire Theatre parking lot to the Petro-Canada building. Going back to in the afternoon, takes about 35 to 45 minutes, depending on the time of day you leave. During the winter, the longest it has taken me was about an hour. So I don't think that is too bad.

The buses in the morning are almost always on time. When going home, most of the buses are on time. There are the odd one that will be about 10 minutes late. but then you have another bus right behind it. So I don't think this is a big deal.

[topmade]

I have been taking 301 for over two years now as well and it's great. Even if I wake up late sometimes, I still catch the bus as it's faster then driving. There will be the odd days where a bus is late, but for the mostpart they are pretty reliable. If you catch the bus at the main stops you don't have to worry about the bus skipping your stop and I'm lucky that way because I get on and off at the main stops.

When going home, depending where you are, I would suggest walking to the 8ave/6st SW stop, or even the one before that on 9th/9th so you can get a seat. If you catch the bus at 5ave/2st, good luck on getting on, and if you do, you won't have a seat. The Chinatown stop is the worst and gets skipped all the time.

If you are thinking about driving, just stop. I hated taking the bus when I first moved to Panorama and tried driving half way here and there to see if I would save any time, but it didn't save anytime and you end up using more money on gas and bus passes.

My longest commute was about 2hrs to get home last year just before xmas when a ton of snow came down.

[kaput]

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[topmade]

I don't know about 116, but have taken 142 once in a while. It only runs during prime times, so if you're working late, you'll have to take something else. Depending on where you are catching it, for me it takes about 5 minutes longer because it does a small loop in Panorma, then Coventry, but once it gets back on Harvest Hills BLVD, it takes the same route as the 301. It's not bad and doesn't miss much stops because less people take it and it's always the standard busses and not the accordian buses the 301 uses mostly.

[no_joke]

I live in "deep" Panorama Hills, say about 1 km or so from the North Pointe bus terminal aka Empire Theatres. I live a block from the 142 bus route but it's about a 15 to 20 minute walk down to the 301 stop. If you're working DT, the commute time on the 142 is pretty comparable to the 301.

The shitty thing about the 142 is scheduling. In the morning, the last bus leaves North Pointe at ~7:00 am and in the afternoon, the last bus leaves DT at ~5:00 pm. And there are only 4 or 5 runs, so if you're running late, you're SOL. In the morning, if you miss the last bus, it can be quite a bitch to get out of the burbs. But the good thing is that the 142 is deadly on time. You could set your watch to that thing.

Like everyone has said, the 301 is awesome. If you're thinking about living in Panorama, I would try to get as close as possible to the North Pointe/Superstore area so you can walk to the 301 in the morning. Or at least close to the 142 route. And if not that, then pony up for the PnR fee.

I haven't taken the bus all summer, so does anyone know how full that Park 'n' Ride is these days? Maybe they will ramp up the feeder bus frequency in the future.

[Recca168]

Originally posted by no_joke
I live in "deep" Panorama Hills, say about 1 km or so from the North Pointe bus terminal aka Empire Theatres. I live a block from the 142 bus route but it's about a 15 to 20 minute walk down to the 301 stop. If you're working DT, the commute time on the 142 is pretty comparable to the 301.

The shitty thing about the 142 is scheduling. In the morning, the last bus leaves North Pointe at ~7:00 am and in the afternoon, the last bus leaves DT at ~5:00 pm. And there are only 4 or 5 runs, so if you're running late, you're SOL. In the morning, if you miss the last bus, it can be quite a bitch to get out of the burbs. But the good thing is that the 142 is deadly on time. You could set your watch to that thing.

Like everyone has said, the 301 is awesome. If you're thinking about living in Panorama, I would try to get as close as possible to the North Pointe/Superstore area so you can walk to the 301 in the morning. Or at least close to the 142 route. And if not that, then pony up for the PnR fee.

I haven't taken the bus all summer, so does anyone know how full that Park 'n' Ride is these days? Maybe they will ramp up the feeder bus frequency in the future.

The PnR at north pointe is still free isn't it? at least according to the calgary transit website.
http://www.calgarytransit.com/html/park_n_ride.html

If not there's always the church across from the T&T. The 301 and all the express buses stop there as well.

[oilerfan4lyfe]

Yeah the P & R is still free at Northpointe...if they charge for it ppl are just going to park at the church or at superstore so I think they're gunna have to figure out a solution to that first.

The 142 isn't bad if you're getting out on time to take it - I took it home from DT a couple of weeks ago everyday for a week and it was always on time (the 4:20ish one) - I would catch it from 5th St & 5 Ave SW and it was pretty much empty.

You could also drive to the park n ride and take the 301 - if you have a car that can sit there all day I'd highly recommend this option - getting a 301 is really, really easy in the morning - it's rare for you to have to wait more than 2 or 3 minutes for one despite with the schedule says.

[kaput]

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[no_joke]

Originally posted by Recca168


The PnR at north pointe is still free isn't it? at least according to the calgary transit website.
http://www.calgarytransit.com/html/park_n_ride.html

If not there's always the church across from the T&T. The 301 and all the express buses stop there as well.

I could have sworn that I saw some signs back in Apr or May about the impending PnR fee at that lot. I'm thinking that someone made enough of a stink about it or I'm totally mistaken. OK back on topic...

[oilerfan4lyfe]

If you're leaning towards Coventry you can probably take the 116 or the 109 I think it is - both of them I see quite a bit in DT...and if it comes down to it you can take a plethora of buses to 78ave and centre and take the 86.

[luv2ride_bikes]

Originally posted by no_joke


I could have sworn that I saw some signs back in Apr or May about the impending PnR fee at that lot. I'm thinking that someone made enough of a stink about it or I'm totally mistaken. OK back on topic...

there where signs up in June saying they where going to start charging on June 15th. It was even on the transit website. They ended up taking the signs down. Transit did install the concrete pads where the pay machines are going to go, but nothing else. Hopefully it stays free for awhile.

[darkkent]

i lived in coventry for 3 years and always took the 116 to work.
if your getting on in coventry you'll always get a seat which is nice.
the 109 is actually for the harvest hills area so dont take that one.
the only issue with the 116 was the last one would swing by my house at 7.15.
if I missed it I was screwed and had to walk to catch the 301 or drive.
so depending on your work schedule the 116 could be good or bad.

[avow]

Sorry to raise this right from the dead but I am in the same boat as I have been shopping around and wondering how it is there now a days. I will probably drive up and park there a few times if I get serious but just wondering if any opinions have changed.

[Xtrema]

Well it's almost 4 years later and now there are a lot more people up there. Panoraman and Conventry are almost filled out and everyone north of Stoney is also being dropped into the 301 station.

So I would assume it's a lot more packed on the 301.

[euro_racer]

in the morning the 301 gets full real fast at north pointe, but they have fairly short intervals at peak hours. Often you will see two busses that are running together so its still fairly reasonable catching a bus in and out of there

[doomdealer]

For me, the whole 301 commute experience is great 90% of the time (ie: 30-40 mins from North Pointe to Downtown, and vice-versa).

The sucky part is during the winter on a snow day. You'd get traffic backing up on Harvest Hills Blvd from the Beddington Trail ramp all the way back to Empire Studios. That will part alone will easily cost you an extra 30 mins commute time.

During those same snow days, I've also experienced the 301 not showing up at the North Pointe stop for close to 40 minutes. It gets pretty brutal there waiting for the bus in the windchill for that long.

The Centre Street & McKnight Blvd interchange used to be a chokepoint as well during rush hour regardless if it's summer/winter. They've since built bus lanes there to help expedite transit getting through the intersection.

Overall, if you can get a seat on the 301, then I'd say the commute is bearable even on the bad days. If you were forced to stand, then yeah... good luck with that.