Calgary Transit asks public to help plan the RouteAhead

Calgary Transit is asking Calgarians what they think of the service, from fares to future transit lines.

The RouteAhead public consultation project will ask Calgarians what they think of transit over the next 10 months.

The first part of the consultation will involve gathering feedback on the web and at public meetings.

The answers will then be combined with information that Calgary Transit alreadycollected. The strategic plan will guide priorities for right now, and looking ahead 30 years.

Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi says fundamental questions need to be answered.

"What should the optimal fare be? What should the optimal ratio of fares to property tax support be?Which capital projects should we put forward?What changes to network do we need to have happen? How do we measure our customer service?" asked Nenshi.

"I think all of those are really good things and I think transit customers, both current and prospective customers, will see a lot of improvements as a result of this work."

Calgary Transit will come up with ways to improve the service, and then report to city council.

Nenshi said the review will help the business unit and city council make better decisions in the future.

"That particular business unit is so customer facing, it relies so much on revenue from people who make the choice to take it and it's so important to the future of the city that it's worth taking out of the city's regular strategic planning process and thinking about it separately," said Nenshi.