Metro - Calgary : Columnist - In Transit by Chris Phalen

in transit by chris phalen

Chief Big Plume putting his people first

March 30, 2009

With only one hurdle left, the southwest leg of the fabled ring road sits loosely in the hands and hearts of 800 Tsuu T’ina.

Ring Road, Plan It will go hand in hand

March 23, 2009

Just when Calgary’s identity is bordering on becoming akin to 100 suburbs in search of a city, along comes the giant perimeter to reel in the far-reaching corporate tentacles of developers — the almost mythical Ring Road.

Don’t blame Calgary Transit for missed trains

March 16, 2009

There is a shared story that could be told a thousand times among regular C-Train users.

Fear of danger greater than danger

March 09, 2009

Refuge from fear and uneasiness among the majority of transit riders and employees isn’t coming in the wake of reported declining transit crime statistics.

Bridging the gap in pedestrian transit

March 02, 2009

If high-end design can uplift Calgary’s spectre of architecture, and include measures of transit infrastructure, I am all for it, especially the Santiago Calatarva-commissioned foot bridges to gap the Bow.

HOV lanes offer attractive incentives

February 23, 2009

I remember my first experience with a high occupancy vehicle lane during a road trip through Vancouver on my way to Horseshoe Bay.

Anti-idling bylaw comes down to moral fibre

February 09, 2009

I’m not against a law prohibiting carbon from swallowing up our skyline, and the moral aptitude for inciting such responsible behaviour is inarguable, but an anti-idling bylaw begins and ends with people becoming more informed and personally more accountable.

Crisis fuels applications for school bus drivers

February 02, 2009

My wife and I got home from a Tuesday evening grocery extravaganza to be met in our ridiculously slow condo elevator by a woman wearing a Southland Transportation fleece.

Stop overreacting to transit ticket jump

January 26, 2009

Recent published comments about the increase in transit driver traffic violations would have the public believing our bus drivers are unkempt speeding huns barreling down the causeways of Calgary with blatant disregard for human life.

West LRT missing major employment centres

January 19, 2009

Council’s judgment to exclude Mount Royal College on the West LRT line is the kind of gaffe we’ve come to expect from our heralded leaders.

Time to change your transit sensibilities

January 12, 2009

It’s hard to discount the looming sterility of the suburbs.Double garage doors face the streets emoting barrenness, and the squalid collective demeanour of the stereotypical urbanite complements the design malfunction, which is easily measured by an obvious lack of civic availability.