Calgary Bus Rapid Transitways
Networked Thinking
As Calgary reshaped its transit network in the most significant overhaul in its history, we worked closely with Calgary Transit to coordinate the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) infrastructure for Calgary Transit’s MAX system—over 100 stations and stops—then carried that momentum forward into the station designs for four new lines.
These four lines connect Calgary’s growing southwest and eastern suburbs to the city centre while also opening up new east-west travel options that don’t rely on the traditional downtown hub. It’s a shift from 20th-century thinking to 21st-century thinking that reflects how people live now—moving between homes, jobs, schools, and communities in all directions. With purpose-built infrastructure, including signal pre-emption and dedicated lanes, shoulders, and rights-of-way, the MAX system is a comfortable and efficient network for its over 30,000 daily riders. Importantly, the entire system is fully accessible.
Transit infrastructure often leans toward the purely practical—the traveller experience can often be overlooked. We designed 11 modular station types that reduce materials, costs, and time without sacrificing aesthetic appeal. Each station-canopy structure can be installed in a matter of hours, yet the variety among them creates elegantly distinctive horizon lines against the open sky. Cross-laminated timber and other design elements can be adapted to each station’s context to create variety while maintaining consistency and communicating the convenience and comfort of the MAX system.
That modularity offers future-proofing at the station level. We worked with transit planners to ensure a large part of the BRT system is rail convertible so it can be upgraded to LRT or streetcar service in the future. This open-endedness means the BRT network can be a tool in the city’s plans for transit growth and expansion.
By completing our work ahead of schedule, planners began gathering useful information sooner than anticipated. After only a few short years, the network has changed and expanded alongside the city itself, and the MAX system has become an important part of Calgarians’ lives.
