In the summer of 2022, the City of Calgary announced it was planning on removing the remaining “bus traps” in the city. Bus traps are pits dug into the middle of the road, with a width such that a wider vehicle, such as a bus, can pass over but narrower vehicles like passenger cars become trapped.
These traps are used to create shortcuts for busses, allowing for more efficient transit routes while protecting the nearby neighborhoods from unwanted shortcutting traffic. They have been in use in Calgary since the early 1970s.
The first bus trap was installed on the University of Calgary campus. I have been unable to determine exactly where it was located, so if you know, please share with me in the comments.
At one time these traps were located throughout the city. As of today, there are only a handful remaining, all of them in the northern part of the city.
In this week’s video, we visit and document the remaining bus traps in the city of Calgary and document them so future Calgarians will have something to remember these somewhat-barbaric traffic control devices by.
