A local marketing expert calls Calgary Transit’s free-fare-zone sponsorship pitch attractive but missing balance as a crucial ingredient.

A briefing note in the Infrastructure and Planning Committee’s Sept. 9 agenda includes a presentation from the administration outlining transit’s pitch to secure a corporate sponsor for its free-fare zone. Briefing notes are not discussed publicly.

The area borders city hall and serves the downtown core along 7 Avenue SW, and has been a hot topic among councillors and the broader community since the new year. After many debates, they voted to continue the zone until further review in early 2027.

In the months following the May decision, the administration was directed to engage with experts to produce a marketing package for the opportunity, which will be brought forward next week.

For the minimum five-year term, the document detailed what would be awarded to the official sponsor. It identified both physical and electronic advertising elements, as well as announcements posted on the city’s website and social media accounts. 

Whether the branding would be seen on poles and double-sided banners or heard as a sponsored audio message on CTrain cars, the document listed several benefits that the partnership could offer to an interested company.

The city highlighted several enticing reasons for the prospect, such as the location spanning nine stations and 11 platforms in the heart of downtown, and an annual ridership totalling 40 million trips.

However, while a local scholar applauded the city’s effort to define the positives of the sponsorship opportunity’s consumer reach, he said the pitch deck would land better if it included the consequences as well.

Pitch deck omits residents’ concerns, marketing professor says

Neil Bridgen, associate professor of marketing at Mount Royal University, specializes in the psychological aspects of consumer decision-making — the experiences and attitudes people have towards brands and products. 

If he were to audit the free fare zone sponsorship pitch, Bridgen said it fails to consider the opinions of everyday residents on the topic, since these often inform companies’ risk assessments.

“There are some very positive associations about transit being this sustainable form of transportation, and the free fare zone being something that supports affordability,” he said. 

“The other side of it is that there have been some concerns raised about crime along transit corridors…and that can be uncomfortable for people.”

This two-sided coin was at the centre of debates among city councillors this past spring, resulting in their deferring the decision about the free fare zone until next year. Part of this led Calgary Transit to conduct a survey about the free fare zone to determine its future. 

Bridgen said this is a step in the right direction, but since it won’t be released until the new year, the city must give potential sponsors an earlier understanding. He mentioned that if the data is unavailable, consumers may continue to rely on word of mouth. 

This can hinder companies’ appeal, Bridgen said, as the loudest voices have often been leery of the continued free fare zone, such as Ward 6 Coun. John Pantazopoulos, who pushed for the train safety pilot project, and Ward 13 Coun. Dan McLean, who voted to remove the zone for safety purposes.

High exposure could break the safety concern clouds

In a June article by LWC, Pantazopoulos said that he had come to the understanding that the “social disorder on the CTrain starts at the free fare zone,” with McLean reiterating this when saying that people who use the service are then “creating social disorder once they move on.”

Despite this, Calgary Transit data revealed that paid LRT stations account for eight of the top 10 social disorder hotspots by incident count, supporting the area representative for the free fare zone, Ward 7 Coun. Myke Atkinson’s point that the issue is not specific to one place. 

“We have to look at this holistically and make sure that we’re tackling social disorder not just at train stations, but where we know it is taking place within the downtown as a whole,” he told LWC. 

“To really give people that confidence and change the perspective around people’s perceptions of safety within the downtown.”

In addition to the safety concerns surrounding the area, Brigden said that TD Bank’s — the most recent free fare zone sponsor — move to end its contract two years early could also leave a bad taste in the mouths of interested companies. 

“The fact that some other organization pulled out might signal that this is not a desirable sponsorship opportunity,” he said.

“That doesn’t mean that it’s a poor fit for any organization, but it’s not a vote of confidence.”

Brigden said that there is still a legitimate appeal to sponsoring the free fare zone because of the massive exposure that it would offer. He said that the ideal candidate might prioritize affordability, sustainability, or building connections. 

“The kind of company that would be interested in this sponsorship is one who sees good alignment between their organizational values and their brand identity,” said Brigden. 

“The values that they could use this sponsorship to signal and reinforce with their target audience.”