The city of Calgary,

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, has a large transportation network that encompasses a variety of road, rail, air, public transit, and pedestrian infrastructure. Calgary is also a major Canadian transportation centre and a central cargo hub for freight in and out of north-western North America. The city sits at the junction between the " Canamex" highway system and the

Trans-Canada Highway The Trans-Canada Highway (French: ; abbreviated as the TCH or T-Can) is a transcontinental federal–provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the Atlantic Ocean on ...

( Highway 1 in Alberta). As a prairie city, Calgary has never had any major impediments to growth. As such, it has developed into a city with an area of about (of which only half is built up) and a metropolitan area of nearly . This outward growth has encouraged the development of an extensive personal vehicle-oriented road network complete with a

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...

system. Since 1981, when the city officially opened the first leg of its

CTrain CTrain (previously branded C-Train) is a light rail rapid transit system in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Most of the network functions as a light metro, though in the free-fare zone that runs through the downtown core the Red and Blue lines oper ...

rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be ...

system, emphasis on public transportation as an alternative to cars has become important. The CTrain has the second-highest light rail system ridership of any North American city, only slightly behind

Guadalajara, Mexico Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Mexico, while the Guadalajar ...

Cycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from t ...

is also seen as a major alternative to driving in Calgary. In recent years, increases in the population and density of inner-city neighbourhoods such as the

Beltline The Atlanta BeltLine (also Beltline or Belt Line) is a open and planned loop of multi-use trail and light rail transit system on a former railway corridor around the core of Atlanta, Georgia. The Atlanta BeltLine is designed to reconnect nei ...

have favoured greater pedestrianism as well.

Public transportation

Calgary's primary public transportation system is operated by

Calgary Transit Calgary Transit is the public transit agency which is owned and operated by the city of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. In 2019, an estimated 106.5 million passengers boarded approximately 1,155 Calgary Transit vehicles. It operates light metro (LRT), u ...

. The service operates only within Calgary city limits and does not provide transportation to and from other communities within the

Calgary Region The Calgary Metropolitan Region (CMR), also commonly referred to as the Calgary Region, is a conglomeration of municipalities centred on Calgary, the largest city in Alberta. With the Government of Alberta's establishment of the Calgary Metropol ...

. Some communities within Calgary's metropolitan area provide their own transit services (for example, Airdrie Transit). Calgary Transit is owned and managed by the City of Calgary.

Light rail

The light rail transit (LRT) system, known as the

C-Train CTrain (previously branded C-Train) is a light rail rapid transit system in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Most of the network functions as a light metro, though in the free-fare zone that runs through the downtown core the Red and Blue lines opera ...

, consists of of track connecting 45 stations and was one of the first such systems in North America. Until very recently, Calgary and

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

were the only two North American cities with populations under two million to operate rapid mass transit systems. The Saddletowne-69 St. (Route 202) line serves the city's West, downtown and Northeast areas, while the

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

- Somerset–Bridlewood (Route 201) line runs between the Northwest and South Calgary via the 7th Avenue South transit-only corridor. Travel between stations along 7th Avenue in downtown is free-of-charge. Unique to the C-Train system, its power is completely wind generated and completely free of emissions. An extension of the Route 202 line was recently built to serve some Southwest communities to the west of downtown. The project is called the WestLRT and was completed in December 2012.

Buses

Calgary Transit also has a system of buses, with routes stretching over the whole city. It has won several awards for its efficiency and its environmental responsibility. It consists of over 160 bus routes and four C-Train lines (two routes), stretching over .

Roads and streets

Calgary has an extensive street network. Smaller roads are supplemented with a number of major arteries, expressways and

s. The largest of these is the north–south running

Deerfoot Trail Deerfoot Trail is a freeway segment of Highway 2 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It stretches the entire length of the city from south to north and links suburbs to downtown via Memorial Drive and 17 Avenue SE. The freewa ...

. The majority of main expressways and freeways are named Trails, as well as some of the main arterial roads that do not fit in the numbering grid. The use of the term Trails to describe major highways resulted from the development of early pioneer trails into the highways themselves. The original trails were named after the settlements to which they lead; for example, Edmonton Trail (part of the former

Calgary and Edmonton Trail The Calgary and Edmonton Trail was a land transport route between Fort Edmonton and Fort Calgary in the Northwest Territories. Prior to European contact, there was already a route through the area that local Indigenous peoples used to travel fro ...

), (Fort) Macleod Trail, and Banff Trail (which combined with 24th Street W was later renamed

Crowchild Trail Crowchild Trail is a major expressway in western Calgary, Alberta. The segment from the 12 Mile Coulee Road at the edge of the city to 16 Avenue NW (Trans-Canada Highway, Highway 1) is designated as Highway 1A by Alberta Transportation ...

). More recently developed local expressways were given the Trail moniker and have been named after important people from Calgary's history (Crowchild Trail, Marquis of Lorne Trail), native groups (Stoney Trail, Sarcee Trail, Blackfoot Trail) or again after their destination (Airport Trail). There are a couple of exceptions to this rule in which a few older residential streets have also been labeled "Trail", such as Morley Trail. Plans originating in the 1950s and 1960s for a considerably more extensive freeway system including elevated freeways were largely abandoned in favour of a growing trend to reduce the emphasis on roads and increase the amount of public transportation infrastructure in North American cities. Sidewalks at intersections in areas outside the downtown core are often stamped with the name of the cross-street, especially in older districts. As this was once done by hand by municipal employees who were not always literate, some street names are misspelled or the letters reversed.

Organization

Traditionally Calgary's roads were built on a grid system. Originally, the streets and avenues were named, but after 1904, they were numbered. Today, numbered Avenues (running east–west) and Streets (running north–south) dominate the city, although names appear to be making a comeback. The city is divided into four

quadrants Quadrant may refer to: Companies * Quadrant Cycle Company, 1899 manufacturers in Britain of the Quadrant motorcar * Quadrant (motorcycles), one of the earliest British motorcycle manufacturers, established in Birmingham in 1901 * Quadrant Privat ...

: Northeast, Northwest, Southeast and Southwest, and all street names and addresses end with suffixes corresponding to the quadrant of the city in which they lie (NW, NE, SE or SW). The central point of the quadrant system is the Centre Street Bridge, with Centre Street and Centre Avenue forming the boundaries (although the points vary; most of the south end has Macleod Trail as a boundary, except near

Chinook Centre Chinook Centre (formally branded as "CF Chinook Centre") is the largest shopping mall in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is located near the geographic centre of the city on Macleod Trail, north of Glenmore Trail about south of downtown, and three ...

where Macleod Trail bends westward; in the west end, the Bow River forms the boundary for the most part). Roads in predominantly suburban residential areas as well as freeways and expressways do not generally conform to the grid and are usually not numbered as a result (although some suburban streets are indeed numbered if they fall in place on the grid). The main lines on the grid are fairly evenly distributed at intervals of about 1 mile (1.6 km) where an arterial road (or expressway) is usually situated (on former Township and Range Roads). They are at roughly the following Streets and Avenues (although not always named as such): *Avenues north of downtown: 16th, 32nd, 48th, 64th, 80th, 96th, 112th, 128th, 144th *Avenues south of downtown: 17th, 34th, 50th, 66th, 82nd, 90th, 114th, 130th, 146th, 162nd, 178th, 194th *Streets east of downtown: 6th, 15th, 24th, 36th, 52nd, 68th, 84th *Streets west of downtown: 14th, 24th, 37th, 53rd, 69th, 85th, 101st, 117th A quirk of the numbering is that it was intended for addresses on numbered streets to begin at 100 (not 0) at Centre Street and Centre Avenue and move out accordingly. For example, 545 16th Avenue NW lies between 4th and 5th Streets NW. There are many violations of such, however, especially in suburban areas. The highest address numbers are found on north–south streets in the southernmost suburbs, where they approach 20000.

Major streets

*4 Avenue S / 5 Avenue S *6 Avenue S / 9 Avenue S * 14 Street W * 16 Avenue N ( Highway 1 /

) * 17 Avenue SE * 17 Avenue SW *32 Avenue N * 36 Street E (becomes Métis Trail north of McKnight Boulevard) *52 Street E (becomes Falconridge Boulevard north of McKnight Boulevard) * Anderson Road * Barlow Trail *

Beddington Trail Beddington is a suburban settlement in the London Borough of Sutton on the boundary with the London Borough of Croydon. Beddington is formed from a village of the same name which until early the 20th century still included land which became t ...

(becomes Symons Valley Road north of Stoney Trail) * Blackfoot Trail *

Bow Trail Bow Trail is an expressway in the southwest quadrant of Calgary, Alberta. It lends its name from the Bow River, which runs through the city north of the road itself. It runs from downtown Calgary, where the westbound traffic continues from 6 A ...

* Centre Street (becomes Harvest Hills Boulevard north of Beddington Trail) *

Country Hills Boulevard Country Hills Boulevard is a major expressway in Calgary, Alberta. It is notably one of the longest east-west routes in Calgary and one few routes north of Alberta Highway 1, 16 Avenue N that is mostly continuous from the west end of the city to th ...

( Highway 1A - part) *

( Highway 2) * Edmonton Trail *Elbow Drive *

Glenmore Trail Glenmore Trail is a expressway in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, named after the reservoir which it crosses. It is a freeway between Sarcee Trail in southwest Calgary to Ogden Road in the southeast, carrying nearly 160,000 vehicles per weekday at ...

( Highway 8 - part) *Heritage Drive *John Laurie Boulevard *

Macleod Trail Macleod Trail is a major road in Calgary, Alberta. It is a six- to eight-lane principal arterial road extending from downtown Calgary to the south of the city, where it merges into Highway 2. South of Anderson Road, Macleod Trail is an express ...

( Highway 2A - part) * McKnight Boulevard * Memorial Drive *Northmount Drive *Nose Hill Drive *

Sarcee Trail Sarcee Trail is a major limited-access road in Calgary, Alberta. It is divided into two portions, one in the south end of the city, and one in the north end of the city. Originally planned as one continuous route, plans to connect the two halves ...

Shaganappi Trail Shaganappi Trail () is a major super-4 expressway in the northwest quadrant of Calgary, Alberta. It extends to the south as Montgomery View, a small service road in the neighbourhood of Montgomery and that provides access to Edworthy Park, pa ...

* Stoney Trail/Tsuut'ina Trail (Highway 201) *Southland Drive

Skeletal road network

The city of Calgary designated major corridors to allow free flowing travel continuity throughout the city. With one exception (the central portion of 16th Avenue), they are all intended to be upgraded to freeways if they are not already. Roads designated as north–south corridors, from east to west, are: *

( Highway 2) *

( Highway 1A)-

( Highway 8)-14th Street-Anderson Road-

* Stoney Trail-

Transcanada Highway The Trans-Canada Highway (Canadian French, French: ; abbreviated as the TCH or T-Can) is a transcontinental federal–provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the A ...

/ Highway 1/16th Ave NW-Sarcee Trail. Roads designated as east–west corridors from south to north, are: *

( Highway 8) *

( Highway 1/16th Avenue N) * Stoney Trail ( Highway 201)

Air

The

Calgary International Airport Calgary International Airport , branded as YYC Calgary International Airport, is an international airport that serves the city of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is located approximately northeast of downtown and covers an area of 20.82 squa ...

( ICAO Code CYYC, IATA Code YYC) is the only international airport in the

and one of only two in the province. The airport is WestJet Airlines's main base and largest hub, and acts as an

Air Canada Air Canada is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Canada by the size and passengers carried. Air Canada maintains its headquarters in the borough of Saint-Laurent, Montreal, Quebec. The airline, founded in 1937, provides scheduled an ...

hub. In total, about 20 passenger airlines have regular scheduled flights to and from the airport. It is also a major hub for several cargo airlines including DHL, FedEx, Purolator, and

United Parcel Service United Parcel Service (UPS, stylized as ups) is an American multinational shipping & receiving and supply chain management company founded in 1907. Originally known as the American Messenger Company specializing in telegraphs, UPS has grown t ...

. The airport primarily connects

Western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West or the Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a Canadian region that includes the four western provinces just north of the Canada� ...

with non-stop flights to

Eastern Canada Eastern Canada (also the Eastern provinces or the East) is generally considered to be the region of Canada south of the Hudson Bay/ Strait and east of Manitoba, consisting of the following provinces (from east to west): Newfoundland and Labrado ...

, 18 major American cities, as well as destinations to Europe, Asia, the Caribbean and Mexico. Calgary International airport also has regular scheduled service to London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Mexico City and Tokyo. Calgary International Airport is Canada's fourth busiest airport in after

Toronto Pearson International Airport Lester B. Pearson International Airport , commonly known as Toronto Pearson International Airport, is an international airport located in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It is the main airport serving Toronto, its metropolitan area, and the surr ...

Vancouver International Airport Vancouver International Airport is an international airport located on Sea Island in Richmond, British Columbia, serving the city of Vancouver and the Lower Mainland region. It is located from Downtown Vancouver. It is the second busie ...

and

Montreal Trudeau International Airport Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-p ...

. In 2008, it served more than 12.5 million passengers and is expected to for several years. Calgary's second airport,

Calgary/Springbank Airport Calgary/Springbank Airport or Springbank Airport is an airport located in the Rocky View County community of Springbank, Alberta, an area to the west of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. The Springbank Airport acts as a general aviation reliever for ...

, is located in the western suburb of Springbank, handles the majority of private-plane flights, and acts as a reliever for the main airport while also being the 11th busiest in Canada for aircraft movements.

Bus

Intercity

Scheduled bus service from Calgary or Calgary Airport and north to Red Deer and Edmonton, or south to Lethbridge, is provided by Red Arrow, and Ebus. Calgary to Medicine Hat is provided by J&L Shuttle and Prairie Sprinter Shuttle, both of Medicine Hat. Banff Airporter and Brewster provides service between the Calgary Airport and Banff. Brewster also provides service to Lake Louise and Jasper. Effective October 31, 2018,

Greyhound Canada Greyhound Canada Transportation ULC began as a local British Columbia bus line in the early 1920s, expanded across most of Canada, and became a subsidiary of the US Greyhound in 1940. In 2018, Greyhound pulled out of Western Canada, preserving ...

has cancelled all services in Western Canada, which includes Calgary, citing low ridership.

Regional

On-It Regional Transit provides scheduled bus service to commuter towns surrounding Calgary. Commuter service is provided to Cochrane, Okotoks, and High River. On-It also provides a summer weekend and holiday service to Canmore and

Banff, Alberta Banff is a town within Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada. It is located in Alberta's Rockies along the Trans-Canada Highway, approximately west of Calgary and east of Lake Louise. At above Banff is the community with the second highest ...

Rail

Passenger rail

Calgary is also the largest Canadian city without intercity passenger service, as all

Via Rail Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via, is a Canadian Crown corporation that is mandated to operate intercity passenger rail service in Canada. It receives an annual subsidy from Transport Canada to offset the cost of operating ...

service to the city was terminated in the late 1980s and early 1990s by the

Conservative government Conservative or Tory government may refer to: Canada In Canadian politics, a Conservative government may refer to the following governments administered by the Conservative Party of Canada or one of its historical predecessors: * 1st Canadian Mi ...

. Rail tours by

Royal Canadian Pacific The ''Royal Canadian Pacific'' is a luxury excursion passenger train operated by Mount Stephen Properties, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR). It made its first run on June 7, 2000, after the CPR received the ''royal'' ...

can be booked by private charter.

Rocky Mountaineer Rocky Mountaineer is a Canadian rail-tour company based in Vancouver that operates luxury scenic trains on four rail routes in British Columbia, Alberta, Colorado, and Utah. History Via Rail Canada The Rocky Mountaineer concept was created b ...

pulled out some years back and now runs only from

westward.

Freight

Calgary has four main Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) and Canadian National Railway (CN) lines that traverse the city, in addition to the various feeder lines that run through the industrial parks in the eastern half of the city. One of the rail structures in Calgary is the

CPR Alyth Yard CPR Alyth (Calgary) Yard is a Class 1 railway facility in the neighbourhood of Alyth, southeast of downtown Calgary, Alberta. One of Canadian Pacific Railway's main marshalling yards in Canada, it primarily serves as a rail car repair shop and di ...

, where many of these feeder lines connect to the main lines.

Bicycle and pedestrian

The City of Calgary also maintains a network of paved multi-use pathways (for

bicycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

roller skating Roller skating is the act of traveling on surfaces with roller skates. It is a recreational activity, a sport, and a form of transportation. Roller rinks and skate parks are built for roller skating, though it also takes place on streets, sid ...

and

jogging Jogging is a form of trotting or running at a slow or leisurely pace. The main intention is to increase physical fitness with less stress on the body than from faster running but more than walking, or to maintain a steady speed for longer periods ...

). The dedicated pathway network in Calgary is among the most expansive in North America and spans . There are also about of signed on-street bicycle routes. The pathways connect many of the city's parks, river valley, residential neighbourhoods, and downtown. Calgarians make year-round use of these paths for walking, running, and cycling to various destinations. In June 2013, massive flooding destroyed much of the pathway system (including many pedestrian bridges) along the

Elbow The elbow is the region between the arm and the forearm that surrounds the elbow joint. The elbow includes prominent landmarks such as the olecranon, the cubital fossa (also called the chelidon, or the elbow pit), and the lateral and the me ...

and Bow rivers. Most repairs are complete. Calgary's system of elevated walkways or

skyway A skyway, skybridge, skywalk, or sky walkway is an elevated type of pedway connecting two or more buildings in an urban area, or connecting elevated points within mountainous recreational zones. Urban skyways very often take the form of enclo ...

s downtown (known as the +15 system) is the most extensive in the world. These walkways not only serve to connect buildings, but also contain restaurants, shops, and services (most notably incorporating large parts of

The Core Shopping Centre The Core (stylized The CORE), which consists of TD Square, the Holt Renfrew building, and the former Calgary Eaton Centre, is the dominant shopping complex located in the downtown core of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It spans three city blocks and c ...

). The system is long.

References

{{reflist

External links

City of Calgary: Transportation PlanningCalgary TransitCalgary International AirportCanadian Pacific Railway