Calgary Pride, with Calgary Transit and Pattison Outdoor, wants transit users to ride with pride by making the daily commute a little more colourful. A rainbow Pride bus will be in service on various routes throughout the city, leading up to the 2015 Calgary Pride Parade and Festival on September 6th, as part of the Ride With Pride campaign to promote equality and acceptance of Calgary’s LGBTQA+ community.
"We want to build a stronger relationship with our staff, customers and the community," said Calgary Transit Director Doug Morgan, "We support equality and inclusivity and it’s important for us to help build a vibrant city. The bus will be in service a week leading up to the Calgary Pride Festival and we’ll use it for our float in the parade." The specific Rainbow Pride Bus routes will be posted to social media daily, so commuters will get a chance to ride the rainbow.
Pattison Outdoor is also excited about this new partnership. "We are happy to be working with Calgary Transit and Calgary Pride to include, support, and celebrate diversity of race, religion, sexual orientation and gender identity within Calgary," said Brian de Ruiter, Vice President/General Manager, Prairie Region.
With multiple festival events throughout the city, and more than 60,000 people expected to take in the Calgary Pride Festival, Calgary Transit is playing a major role in connecting people to events safely.
"The Calgary Pride Festival is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year and is expected to be the biggest ever with 60,000 people attending," said Calgary Pride Director of Government Affair, Craig Sklenar, "We are excited to partner with Calgary Transit on this unique to way to bring awareness to the event. We commend Calgary Transit on their commitment in providing a welcoming environment for all LGBTQA+ workers and riders."
