he Green Elephant has been slain!
After years of advocacy, common sense has finally prevailed, and the provincial government have stepped in and cancelled the Green Line LRT.
It was a boondoggle from the get-go, but over the last few years, it somehow managed to make even less and less sense.
Costs skyrocketed.
The line shortened.
Ridership projections reduced.
And yet, Council pressed onward.
And, then, somehow, all of those things happened AGAIN!
Every year, the Green Line project managed to get worse and worse:
- In 2015, the cost was $4.5 billion for 46 kilometres and 140,000 riders.
- In 2017, the cost was $4.6 billion for 20 kilometres and 65,000 riders.
- In 2019, the cost was $4.9 billion for 20 kilometres and 65,000 riders.
- In 2020, the cost was $5.5 billion for 20 kilometres and 55,000 riders.
- Finally, in 2024, the cost was $6.2 billion for 11 kilometres and 32,000 riders.
And, remember, those are all still just estimates!
The ridership estimates were probably still too optimistic, and the costs could have kept going up.
When the West LRT was extended, the costs doubled AFTER construction started.
This week, the Province finally acknowledged the fiasco and pulled their funding for the new, shortened project.
From the get-go, we knew the Green Line was a terrible idea.
Common Sense Calgary has been calling on City Hall to Cancel The Green Line To Nowhere since 2017.
For many years we were the ONLY group warning about how this project was going off the rails.
And now, thanks in large part to our advocacy and your support, Calgary taxpayers have just saved more than $6 billion!
That's almost $6,000 per Calgarians - $24,000 for the average family!
It may have taken several years to get there, but we’re glad to see Calgarians finally off the hook for this project!
And this is just the latest in a series of big wins for our team.
But, as you can see if you’ve been reading our emails regularly, there are many more issues to tackle.
To celebrate our win on the Green Line, and to help us keep up the fight on many other issues, would you consider contributing $6, $60, or even $600?
If you appreciate the work we do, please help us today.
Your contribution will help us get right back to work, helping to save Calgarians money, and advocating for policies that improve their lives.
Common Sense Calgary is the only local, Calgary-centric group pushing back against the absurd policies, extravagant spending, and overall incompetence prevailing at City Hall.
We look forward to continuing to work with and for you on local issues.
Regards,
- The Common Sense Calgary Team