The review is in, and City of Calgary administration is recommending city councillors end the 45-year run of the downtown free fare zone.

The Free Fare Zone Review, which comes to the May 7 Infrastructure and Planning Committee meeting, was sought by Calgary city councillors earlier this year, as the proposal to end it came up during last November’s budget deliberations.

The city administration review showed various potential positive and negative impacts of removing the zone, which was first established in 1981. The primary conflicts were purported safety improvements versus the impact on more price vulnerable Calgarians who use the transit system.

The downtown free fare zone is a 2.5-kilometre stretch along 7 Avenue S between the City Hall / Bow Valley College Station to the Downtown West / Kerby Station. Riders are free to hop on and off through the downtown at their leisure without paying a fare.

Administration said that their decision is driven by the need to improve safety for riders.

“Safety is not a secondary factor for riders – it is a primary decision-making factor that determines when, where, and whether people use transit at all,” the review document reads.

They called it a “gatekeeper variable,” which means that in riders’ minds, no amount of service expansion or fare incentives will grow without safety addressed first.  By removing the free fare zone designation, it opens the door for transit peace officers to deal with social disorder incidents that largely drive a weak perception of safety on Calgary Transit.

It’s not without potential pitfalls, however.

The removal of the downtown free fare zone, coupled with the increase in Calgary Transit fares to $4 per ride, hits lower-income Calgarians harder – particularly those who don’t qualify for the Low-Income Transit Pass.

City administration notes that Calgary is the only large Canadian city that still has a free fare zone. Other US cities have also recently eliminated their free fare zones for the same safety reasons Calgary is considering.

Larger look at the Calgary Transit fare strategy

The report estimates a reduction of 1.8 million downtown boardings with the removal of the free fare zone. There are roughly 5.4 million annual trips taken within the zone each year.

While it will reduce riders in the short term, Calgary Transit estimates that number will recover over time. Meanwhile, they projected a $5 million bump in annual revenue.

Ward 6 Coun. John Pantazopoulos, who was one of the councillors who pushed for the review, said that you don’t want to “throw out the baby in the bath water” and go directly to a $4 charge for downtown riders.

He said that fares need to be looked at holistically for the entire system. That would include input from groups like Calgary Tourism, Calgary Economic Development and other stakeholders.

“If we do get rid of the free fare zone, then is there opportunities for… participants at a conference to still have free fare access? Maybe there’s an accommodation for tourists, those sorts of things,” he said.

“I think it’s sort of looking at everything together.”

Ward 3 Coun. Andrew Yule, who also supported the fare review, said the removal of the free fare zone is a step in the right direction, particularly as Calgary Transit continues work on an overall fare review.

“For me, this has always been about, let’s be intentional about the subsidies that we’re putting into the system and with admin’s recommendations – I agree with them,” he said.

“I think this isn’t the right place for a subsidy downtown, and so this, in conjunction with more work, I think we’ll get there and find something that’s a little bit more aligned with the transit priorities of getting people where they need to be and making it more appealing to use transit.”

Both Yule and Pantazopoulos mentioned the idea of a zone-based fare strategy, which may be among the considerations for how Calgary moves forward on fares in the future.

Public feedback in favour of keeping the free fare zone

The report notes that 85 per cent of downtown businesses said that the impact of removing the free fare zone would be somewhat or significantly negative.

Further, a public opinion survey conducted from Feb. 15 to March 8 that collected 10,800 responses showed considerable overall support for keeping the free fare zone, even among infrequent riders.

Among the respondents, between 68 per cent (infrequent riders) and 80 per cent (occasional riders) suggested keeping the free fare zone or even expanding it.

The survey does indicate that 26 per cent of respondents live within walking distance of the free fare zone, compared with the general population (1 per cent).

“Survey results indicate strong overall support for the Free Fare Zone, though respondents living near the zone and frequent transit users were significantly over-represented,” the report read.

Alex Williams with Calgary Transit Riders, a local transit advocacy group, said that citywide, users are split on the removal of the free fare zone.

“People who live downtown are fairly irritated, but those who live more distant from the free fare zone seem broadly unbothered,” Williams said.

“Some are even in favour of the change, if it means more investment in the broader system.”

Williams said, however, that the elimination of the free fare zone is symptomatic of bigger issues facing Calgary Transit – chronic underfunding by city council.

“I can’t remember a single city councillor that’s said they’re expressly againstfunding transit, but riders are not seeing the support we need,” he said.

Coun. Pantazopoulos said any additional revenue gained from the free fare zone removal must go back into providing better transit service.

“We have a lot of budget constraints. I totally understand that, and there’s going to be a lot of pushes and pulls come budget season,” he said.  

“But when we’re asking Calgarians for something, a sacrifice, something that they had, we have to make sure that we’re making the system better. If we’re just simply taking out of the transit system to fund another initiative. I don’t think that’s fair.”

If approved at committee, and then a future full meeting of Calgary city council, the city administration recommendation is to remove Calgary’s free fare zone on Aug. 1, 2026.