Meet the brain behind our operations

If Calgary Transit (CT) were a flesh-and-blood creature with a brain, that all-important organ would be our Transit Support Centre.

Known fondly within CT as “the TSC,” it is here where much of the thinking happens behind managing our day-to-day transit operations. Like our brain commands our thoughts, memory and speech, arm, and leg movements, the TSC controls our transit system.

For our TSC, it’s all about keeping our 1,000-plus in-service vehicles running on schedule, our 152 routes running efficiently, and our thousands of daily passengers transported safely and smoothly.

Key TSC staff, our operations controllers, check dozens of screens to track bus and train locations and other real-time data collected from the eyes and ears of our system, our cameras, and sensors. These experts are also in constant contact with operators, dispatchers and other staff involved in service, coordinating activities to ensure our vehicles and people are deployed where they’re needed most.

During peak travel times, you’ll find 15 of these specialists on TSC duty quietly overseeing each of our bus and LRT passenger trips on track to hit over 100 million rides annually.

Our TSC security agents watch more than 1,600 CCTV cameras across our CTrain system, respond to customer safety texts and can dispatch officers and other emergency services as needed.

And when unplanned incidents arise, such as traffic accidents, vehicle breakdowns, or power outages, the TSC oversees CT’s response like a brain figuring out how best to deal with the unexpected. Route detours, schedule tweaks, replacement vehicles and other measures are quickly planned, communicated (via @calgarytransit, calgarytransit.com, our Transit tripping planning app, and our customer service lines) and executed to minimize rider delays.

Our brains never shut down (to the chagrin of some) and neither does the TSC, running 24 hours per day, seven days per week and 365 days a year.

As you would expect, our TSC is housed in a skull-like protective space (occupying four floors in a building above the Westbrook LRT station) where it's safe from floods, fires, and other threats.

While our TSC will never match the brain’s complex network of neurons, synapses, and regions, it does have skilled, dedicated people and ultramodern tools we need to help us deliver on our Customer Commitment in the changing world around us.