COVID Info - Rider Resource
Welcome to the COVID19 rider resource page. Here you’ll learn about what we’re doing to keep you safe, and things you can do to keep your fellow riders safe. We are committed to connecting you to the people and places you care about by providing safe, courteous, reliable and accessible transit service.
Current situation
Closure of customer service desks
Based on Provincial restrictions announced on May 4, 2021, the Calgary Transit customer service desk at Village Square Leisure Centre will be temporarily closed, beginning on Monday, May 10. The Calgary Transit desk at Southland Leisure Centre remains closed as well. Low Income Transit passes can still be purchased online at calgarytransit.com/Shop or in person at one of these locations:
- Customer Service Centres
- City Hall Cashiers (only cash or debit are accepted at this location.)
Face coverings on Transit
City Council has passed the temporary Face Coverings Bylaw. The bylaw requires you to wear a face covering (mask) in indoor public premises, and public vehicles, beginning August 1, 2020.
Learn more about the Face Coverings Bylaw including when it will be active, how it will work and what are the exceptions.
Provincial and municipal health measures
What we’re doing to keep you safe
Cleaning all vehicles and facilities
We’re working hard to thoroughly clean all of our vehicles and facilities, to ensure we are providing a safe workplace for our employees and customers. We are disinfecting all grab rails, stanchions, steering wheels, buttons, etc. and are spraying a commercial hospital-grade disinfectant on high-touch surfaces inside of the vehicles. Check out our deep cleaning video.
Cleaning crews are boarding CTrains and buses throughout the day to disinfect high-touch surfaces. Between cleanings, they are disinfecting high-touch surfaces at CTrain stations and major bus loops and terminals, such as benches, ticket machines and grab rails.
Peace officers patrolling and fare verifications
Our peace officers have increased their patrolling and verifying fare payment, resulting in decreased incidents of public disorder and a safer transit system for everyone.
Limiting station building access
To prevent large gatherings and improve physical distancing on our system, the following station buildings are closed all hours of the day:
- SAIT/AUArts/Jubilee
- Victoria Park / Stampede
- Erlton
- Heritage
- Southland
- Anderson
Chinook and Southland station bus loop shelters are closed from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.
When the station building is closed, please use the wheelchair and stroller friendly at-grade crossing entrance to access the platform for the Red Line CTrain.
Ticket vending machines are available at the at-grade crossings for you to purchase your fare.
We’ve placed wayfinding signs to help you navigate where to go.
Our expectations of riders
To keep us all safe during the COVID-19 outbreak, we ask that you:
Practice good hygiene habits
- Help prevent the spread of all viruses (including COVID-19) with a few simple hygiene habits.
- Cover your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze by using the inside of your elbow or shoulder.
- Keep your hands away from your eyes, ears, nose and mouth.
- Wash your hands frequently. Use hand sanitizer when you can’t wash with soap and water.
- And please stay home if you’re feeling unwell.
Respect physical distancing
Please keep two metres distance from others whenever possible.
Wear a face covering
Wearing a face covering is mandatory while taking transit starting August 1, 2020.
By wearing a face covering, you can help keep transit running and prevent the spread of COVID-19 to staff, fellow riders and the community.
Pay your fare
With our shields now installed on all buses and front door boarding beginning again, we are able to collect all fare payment types in our fare boxes. If you are not using the new My Fare mobile ticketing app, please place your cash or tickets in the fare box when you board the bus. If you require a transfer, let the operator know and they will place it on the fare box for you to pick up.
Your feedback
If there are areas for improvements, we want to hear from you! Every Thursday we do a pulse check to see how we’re doing and improve where we can. Check out the results and link to the weekly survey here.
What we’re doing for employees
Our operators come into contact with hundreds of customers a day and their safety is extremely important to us.
Installing barriers to limit contact
We’ve installed barriers on all our buses and community shuttles to limit contact between our operators and customers. This will help keep us all safe, as we return to front-door boarding.
Cleaning kits
We are equipping every vehicle with hand sanitizer for operator use and providing operators with personal cleaning kits.
Frequently Asked Questions
For Customers
Do I have to wear a face covering?
Yes, starting August 1, 2020, the new face coving bylaw requires customers taking transit to wear a mask on transit property which include: CTrain, buses, stations and facilities.
By wearing a face covering, you can help keep transit running and prevent the spread of COVID-19 to staff, fellow riders and the community.
Will there be more cuts to service?
Decisions to cut service are made very carefully, understanding that our customers rely on us to get where they need to go. We don’t have plans to cut service again at this time, but it will depend on ridership and revenue from fare collection.
Some buses are full, what are you doing to address that?
We continue to monitor our bus service daily, using information from operators, customers, and staff who go out in the network to count riders on our buses. If we see routes that have consistent overloads, we will try to add service to those routes.
For Employees
Do I need to wear a mask/face covering?
Wearing a face covering in public places and on transit is mandatory as of August 1. By wearing a face covering, you can help keep transit running and prevent the spread of COVID-19 to staff, fellow riders and the community.
When service resumes, what happens to the employees that were laid off?
We’re not sure when ridership and demand for transit service will start to increase, but that will be a major factor in deciding when to increase service levels. We will continue to monitor the situation and will add service as things improve. If and when we decide to add service, the required number of employees will be recalled according to the appropriate collective agreements.
Were other options considered instead of layoffs?
We did consider a number of options, but these options were not accepted. The loss in revenue is significant and unfortunately, we had to make the difficult decision to layoff employees.
I’m having a hard time getting through to the HR service centre, what should I do?
Please reach out to your HR business partner or email the CT Notifications email that was provided to you in your information package. If you do not know who your HR business partner is, please reach out to your supervisor.
For Calgarians
Should I wear a cloth face covering?
Yes, starting August 1, 2020, the new face coving bylaw requires customers taking transit to wear a mask on transit property which include: CTrain, buses, stations and facilities.
By wearing a face covering, you can help keep transit running and prevent the spread of COVID-19 to staff, fellow riders and the community.
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