Calgary Transit Free Fare Zone naming rights up for grabs

It's known as the free fare zone between City Hall and the Downtown West/Kerby station riders can hop on and off the CTrain without a ticket.

But the City of Calgary is looking into monetizing the zone, not by making riders pay, but by testing to see if a company would chip in and support its financial operations in exchange for the naming rights.

This month, the city posted an opportunity for companies to become a naming rights partner. Testing the waters with an expression for interest solicitation on its procurement portal.

"It's important to support the delivery of municipal services through a variety of means," said Chris Jordan, manager of service design for Calgary Transit.

Calgary Transit aims to recover half of its operating costs at the fare box, and the rest of the service is funded by the city, so this could be a new revenue stream to support transit.

"This is the first opportunity that Calgary Transit and the City of Calgary would like to explore on the public transit system," Jordan said. "It is dependent on the response to this particular request for information and informs what other opportunities might be offered in the future."

The opportunity closes in May.