New Calgary-Banff bus service launches this weekend

A new bus service bound for Banff is expected to get up and running this Saturday, just ahead of Canada's 150th birthday on July 1.

The weekend shuttle willrun from Calgary to the mountain town west of the city on weekends untilearly September.

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The cost will be $10 each way free for kids under five years of age and will see 10 buses head west to the mountains each day with 13 buses making the return tripto Calgary.

"More options for returning at different times during the day is why it's set up like that," Greg Danchuk, visitor experience manager for Banff National Park, told CBC in May.

Tickets can be purchased online,and are expected to sell quickly. E-tickets may be downloaded to a smartphone or printed and scanned on thebus.

Routes

There are two routes:

• Calgary toBanffExpressrunning between Calgary's Crowfoot LRT station andBanff.
• Calgary toBanffRegionalwith additional stops in Okotoks, south Calgary at the Somerset- Bridlewood LRT station, Cochrane and Canmore.

The pilot project is the second phase of theCalgary Regional Partnership'sregional transit system.

"TheBanff-Calgary pilot is part of ourlonger-term vision of a seamlesstransit system connecting the entire region tojobs, recreation and services in any of our communities," said CRP executive directorColleen Shepherd.

It follows the first phase,which launched in October 2016, that connected Calgary to High River, Okotoks, Black Diamond and Turner Valley. The CRP says it is currently considering whether to expand that to Chestermere and Strathmore.

Parks Canada has also launched a free shuttle service within Banff to keep traffic flowing in what's expected to be a busy summer.

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