Asif Kurji began his career at the city of Calgary in the Traffic Department prior to joining Calgary Transit in 2008 as a transit planner. As a senior transit planner with the Strategic Transit Planning department he helps lead the implementation of the RouteAhead plan, Calgary Transit’s 30-year strategic direction.
During his time as a transit planner he promoted, optimized and planned short- and long-term transit service for thousands of customers each year. This diverse range of projects allowed him to utilize skills to expand his knowledge of the transit industry to better serve transit users in his current role.
Kurji’s contributions to Calgary Transit have been engaged, collaborative and financially responsible while keeping the customer’s needs front of mind. His passion for transit has been exemplified through his involvement in many broad projects at Calgary Transit. He consistently provides professional transit input in various projects including the long-range city of Calgary forecast model using the Calgary Transportation Plan and RouteAhead scenarios, and coordinating the high level concept plan for the future south LRT line storage and maintenance facility. He is also a strong advocate for incorporating transit planning, operations and transit-oriented development principles into a variety of land use plans.
As a senior transit planner, Kurji is responsible for liaising with Transportation Planning, Local Area Planning & Implementation, and Office of Land Servicing & Housing business units as well as liaising with the Calgary Regional Partnership and neighboring municipalities as they begin to implement/expand their own public transit systems integrated with Calgary Transit. He is currently leading the Late Night Transit Feasibility Project and the NW HUB Transit Enhancement project which is looking into current and future transit service, including new transit technologies in Calgary’s second largest employment center outside of downtown.
In November of 2013, Kurji, along with two colleagues, were recipients of the Canadian Urban Transit Associations (CUTA) Individual Leadership Award in Excellence, awarded to recognize a single major contribution which has resulted in the betterment of a public transit initiative on behalf of their organizations.
The honor was awarded for their planning, organization and implementation of the 2013 CUTA Leading the Way Youth Summit on Sustainable Transportation. The summit provided youths aged 18 to 28 from Western Canada an opportunity to learn about regional transit, sustainable transportation issues and opportunities, and tools needed to become effective leaders and advocates in their communities. Participants were also given an opportunity to share ideas and network with peers and professionals to explore career possibilities in public transit and other related fields.
In 2013, Kurji co-wrote an article, “10 Questions to Ask a Transit Planner,” for Spacing Magazine that looked at transit service at a grassroots level.
“I enjoy the variety and broadness of working in the transit industry; it’s a different challenge every day. I can go from working on tactile maps for the visually impaired to transit feasibility studies, or from land development, to planning rapid transit corridors in any given day. I like knowing that the work I do impacts people in their day to day lives and can make a difference in how they move throughout the city.”
“The public transit industry is challenging and innovative. We are always finding ways to optimize and plan service within strict financial constraints and the impacts are huge. Transit creates and improves transportation choice, is environmentally friendly, reduces congestion, spurs redevelopment and can save households money. Through these benefits, everyone is impacted by public transit whether they use it or not.”
“I would love to see a national transit strategy where funding, capital and operating, is predictable. Transit ridership has been increasing and consistent funding is needed to maintain and grow services.”
