New MAX Yellow BRT connects Calgarians to popular spots in southwest

Calgary Transitintroduced its newest rapid transit line,MAX Yellow, on Monday. The linewill connectCalgarians to popular spots in the southwestincluding Rockyview hospital, downtown Calgary and Mount Royal University.

MAX Yellow will be combined with three existing MAX lines MAX Purple, Teal and Orange and expand Calgary's rapid transit to all four quadrants of the city, according to a Calgary Transit release.

Asif Kurji, acting manager of transit planning, saidthe new service will provide mobility choices and connectivity to Calgarians in the southwest.

"We've had a lot of feedback over the past five years regarding this project and we're quite excited," he said.

"It'll reduce the number of transfers, it'll improve the travel time for customers to get to these various destinations as well."

The rollout for the new line will begin on Dec. 23, andKurjisaid transit users will be directed by staff along the corridor.

Currently the MAX lines are as follows:

• MAX Purple: East Hills City Centre.

• MAX Teal: Westbrook Douglas Glen.

• MAX Orange: Brentwood Saddletowne.

• MAX Yellow: City Centre - Woodpark.

"Over the past year, ridership has been increasing on those routes," he said. "Over the year we've been seeing increases along the way and we expect the same to happen with MAXYellow when it starts on Monday."

Kurjisaid some ofcurrent bus routes will be changed along with some bus numbersand that more specific information about bus routes are available on Calgary Transit's website.

Anne Cataford, manager for major transit projects, said the MAX Yellow line wasthe last piece of the BRT and that construction is now done for the year.

She added other new projects include:

• New bus stations and buses fromWoodbine and into downtown.
• Improvements along the shoulder of Glenmore Trail.
• A new pedestrian bridge across 14th Street north of90th Avenue S.W.
• Upgrades to the 75th Avenuepedestrian bridge.
• Intersection upgrades at Southland Drive and 14th Street.