Zoo is a stop on the Northeast Line (Route 202) of the C-Train light rail system in Calgary, Alberta. The station opened on April 27, 1985 as part of the original Northeast line. The station, which is located in the median of Memorial Drive Northeast, 2.5 km from the City Hall Interlocking, serves the Calgary Zoo, Telus SPARK (science museum) as well as the community of Bridgeland.
Stylistically, the design of Zoo Station differs from the other stations in the C-Train system as it incorporates images of animals and dinosaurs. The station's centre-loading platform is accessed via ramps leading up from a tunnel below Memorial Drive. The tunnel below Memorial Drive also houses several permanent zoo-related exhibits.
Although Calgary Transit does not operate a park-and-ride at this station, the Calgary Zoo has 500 spots available to LRT commuters for $5/day.
In 2005, the station registered an average transit of 1,100 boardings per weekday, the lowest of any station (due to the lack of any connecting buses or significant trip generators other than the Calgary Zoo itself at the present time). With the opening of the Telus SPARK (science museum) on October 29, 2011, station ridership is likely to increase drastically.
Famous quotes containing the word zoo:
“The zoo cannot but disappoint. The public purpose of zoos is to offer visitors the opportunity of looking at animals. Yet nowhere in a zoo can a stranger encounter the look of an animal. At the most, the animal’s gaze flickers and passes on. They look sideways. They look blindly beyond.”
—John Berger (b. 1926)