Calgary Transit is set to tighten up the supply of free parking spots at four LRT Park and Ride locations, with their conversion to reserved spots starting Oct. 1.

Nearly 330 parking spots divided between Brentwood, Dalhousie, Tuscany and Somerset-Bridlewood LRT stations will convert to paid, reserved spots, in what Calgary Transit said was a response to demand for that space.

Currently, signage is being posted at the LRT Park and Ride locations ahead of the conversion.

Calgary Transit said they were responding to customer demand, however, they weren’t able to directly comment on the volume of demand they’d received.

“We received emails from customers about capacity issues at some of those locations, and there are people that really rely on a spot for their weekday commute,” said Calgary Transit spokesperson Jamie McNaul.

“By expanding the reserved parking, we’re meeting the needs of these customers because they get a guaranteed parking option for their weekday morning commute.”

Right now, the cost of a reserved stall with Calgary Transit is $95 per month, plus GST. There appears to be no fixed number of reserved stalls, as it fluctuates. The conversion of the new stalls, should all the new ones be reserved, will generate roughly $375,000 in additional annual revenue for Calgary Transit.

“Revenue really wasn’t a factor. Generating additional revenue wasn’t the key reason that we made this change,” McNaul said.

“It is really about giving customers that option for a secured spot, so that they have a spot guaranteed for their weekday commutes.”

The breakdown of the number of spots being changed is the following: 75 at Brentwood, 78 at Dalhousie, 12 at the Tuscany North Park and Ride and 78 at the Tuscany South, and 85 spots at Somerset-Bridlewood.

It appears to be somewhat of a flip-flop by Calgary Transit, as CityNews Calgary reported in 2023 about commuter frustration with the lack of free parking spots at some locations. Somerset-Bridlewood, for example, removed 85 reserved spots at that time.

Now, it appears they’re adding those back.

The stalls are only reserved from 2 a.m. to 10 a.m. After that, they’re open for others to park.

More improvements could help last-mile connection: CTR

Alex Williams with the transit advocacy group Calgary Transit Riders said that he understands the appeal of a reserved spot, especially for commuters from Calgary’s bedroom communities who want a guaranteed spot.

“From a broader ridership perspective, I mean, most riders arrive at the train stations via bus or biking or walking,” he said.

“I would hope that some of the funds recouped from the charge parking would potentially be able to go to improve service in the local communities and make things better for all riders.”

Williams said that he believes a lot of people who choose the Calgary Transit Park and Rides do so because their local bus route isn’t very convenient. If you miss a bus and you have to wait 30 minutes for the next one, he said the easier option is to drive.

“Whereas if you have a 15-minute frequency, that’s a significant difference,” he said.

“’Oh, I just missed the last one. That’s OK, it’s 15 minutes. I’ll just respond to this email, and then I’ll go start walking to the bus stop.’”

More could be done to continue improvements to the last mile connections, Williams said. He appreciates the addition of bike and scooter shares to help that along. By improving this, you could influence the volume of people relying on the parking stalls.

“Making those last mile connections better is a pretty big deal for us. That’s something that we’d like to see a significant improvement on,” he said.

“Other things that we can improve is just making our streets more walkable, make it more convenient for people to get to the train station, make it more convenient for people to park their bike at the train station.”

Fifteen years ago, Calgary Transit removed 135 ParkPlus machines that charged drivers $3 per day to park in the lots. Shortly after, reserved stall options were added at a Park and Ride feature.

McNaul said there are no further plans to expand the reserved space conversion at this time.