Calgarians start petition against bus route cuts

Some people in the community of Coach Hill are concerned they’ll lose their bus route when the West LRT line is completed.

Calgary Transit plans to cut several routes when the new leg opens, which could be as soon as December.

Myrtle Sproule and her husband both take Bus 101 — one of the routes Calgary Transit is considering cutting that heads downtown from her home in Coach Hill.

Her three children also take that bus to two different schools.

Sproule says what is most concerning is that the new transit route will mean three members of her family will have to make two transfers.

It’s the reason why she has joined forces with some neighbours and have been going door-to-door with a petition to keep Bus 101 on the road.

"Speaking to everyone in the community, they're all saying 'Yes. Why are they taking the 101 away?,'' Sproule says. "Everyone I speak to is just as appalled as I am."

Ald. Richard Pootmans also says he has received several dozen calls from people asking the city to keep the bus route.

Meanwhile, Calgary Transit says it held 14 open houses on the topic, consulted thousands of people who live in the southwest and have come up with a route plan that works for the majority of residents in the area.