Calgary exploring transit fare integration with Airdrie

Currently, commuters transferring from an Airdrie bus to a Calgary transit option pay twice for the same trip — but an integrated fare system between the two cities could put an end to that.

Calgary exploring transit fare integration with Airdrie If approved by council, administration would bring back progress report in early 2027 Calgary and Airdrie are taking early steps to explore integrating their transit fare systems so commuters don’t need to pay twice for one trip. Airdrie Mayor Heather Spearman sent a letter to Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas earlier this year to seek city council's support to better integrate their transit fare systems. Integrating the systems would mean commuters transferring from an Airdrie bus to a Calgary bus or CTrain, and vice versa, wouldn't need to pay a second fare when switching between systems.

City administration presented the idea to Calgary's intergovernmental affairs committee on Thursday, which voted to send the idea for council to debate in a future meeting. As Calgary rapidly grows and expands closer to its neighbours, the city needs to have conversations with municipalities about how their services can be better integrated, according to Ward 3 Coun. Andrew Yule.

He said residents in his ward already often travel to Airdrie to use amenities that are closer than other alternatives around their own city. A more integrated system could also take more cars off Calgary’s roads, Yule said, as he noted a lot of congestion on Centre Street comes from neighbouring municipalities like Airdrie and Cochrane. “If we can take some of those cars off the road as well, it might just alleviate some of the pressures on our infrastructure in Calgary,” Yule said.

“As we grow outward, we are aligning our fates with the other municipalities. It’s better to work together than in silos.” Airdrie currently runs several transit routes to northeast and downtown Calgary, via routes 900, 901 and 902.

In 2025, trips to and from Calgary accounted for 60 per cent of Airdrie’s transit ridership, according to a city spokesperson. If approved by council, city administration is expected to bring a progress report back on integrated transit fare by early next year. Growing regional transit Calgary already allows other regional buses to use many of its stops and stations.

The city is also working on expanding transit to the Taza development in Tsuut'ina Nation, and already extends the Max Purple bus route to Chestermere. Spearman said many residents in her city commute to work or school in Calgary, and she's heard calls for a more integrated system "all the time." Cutting down residents’ day-to-day transit expenses could also help tackle overall affordability issues, said Spearman.

“We’d be remiss if we were not facing this with full arms open in terms of getting this across the finish line for folks. It’s been long required, long asked for,” said Spearman. Farkas said he’s keen to collaborate with neighbouring municipalities to build out a high-performance transportation network in the area.

“We’re growing up as a region,” Farkas said. “As we welcome our two-millionth Calgarian, we’re going to need to up our game in terms of the service provision, but also the technology behind the scenes that supports that.” Farkas said the city will need to discuss its cost recovery if the integrated transit fare idea moves forward.

A potential uniform transit pass, whether Airdrie would contribute to the low-income transit pass, and which routes would be covered are all still up in the air. An eventual light rail connection between Calgary and Airdrie isn't out of the question, Farkas added. Alberta's passenger rail master plan calls for eventual all-day commuter rail service at least every 20 minutes between the two cities.

But Spearman noted that barring a major investment from the province, a rail line between the two cities is likely decades away. Other regions around Canada have explored similar transit integration in recent years. The Arc card smart fare transit system was introduced in Edmonton and its surrounding region in 2022, with seven neighbouring transit systems participating.

And Ontario’s One Fare program currently allows transit users to pay once when transferring between a variety of agencies in the Toronto area. Farkas said it’s clear to him that in 10 to 15 years, Calgary Transit will likely serve the entire region, ideally with provincial support. Ward 2 Coun.

Jennifer Wyness agreed that working toward a regional transit network is the conversation Calgary needs to have with its neighbours. “If we’re thinking about the fare strategy for the next 10 years, we should be talking to all our neighbouring communities to get in now while we build this plan out,” Wyness said. “And it could save us money in the long run, by thinking now for the future.”

With files from Brendan Coulter