At Edmonton Transit Riders, we talk a lot about “the transit you deserve.” We wax poetic about a bus stop that’s within a 10 minute walk from your home, with buses that arrive every 30 minutes, and arrive on time. To a lot of Edmontonians, this sounds like a fairy tale. But we think this is the bare minimum service that you deserve. Don’t just take our word for it; these are the minimum service standards laid out by the City of Edmonton. The city says “this is what you should be getting.”
Except there’s a problem. You aren’t getting that. For many in our city, buses arrive maybe hourly, and when they do arrive they’re so late that you question why you didn’t just walk downtown instead. For those where buses arrive a little more frequently, many of those buses are so full that they have no choice but to pass you, leaving you standing in the cold for who knows how long. The fact is that ETS isn’t meeting the needs of Edmontonians.
This Wednesday, October 9, 2024, City Council’s Executive Committee is meeting to discuss transit service needs to 2026, when Edmonton will have 1.25 million people! This blog post is our response to the information included in that report, and what transit riders should be getting out of our transit system.
Growing Pains
Anybody in town could tell you how fast Edmonton is growing. More people are flocking to enjoy our beautiful city, which we think is an amazing thing. What isn’t amazing is the failure of transit to keep up with the growth. From 2021-2023, the population grew by over 7%, but the level of transit service only grew by 4.4%(1). As more people are trying to get to our major hubs, and neighbourhoods are built on the edge of the city, there is, quite simply, less transit to go around. Edmonton’s almost 1000 buses are a limited resource, and can only serve so much of the city at a time(2). Without further investment, it’s only going to get worse. From 2023-2026, Edmonton is expected to grow by 9%(1)! How can we possibly hope to move even a portion of that without investing in our transit system? We’re asking the city to invest $16.1M annually to make sure that you’re able to get around our city quickly, comfortably, sustainably, and on time(1).
Commander, Contact the Fleet!
We mentioned that Edmonton only has around 1000 buses. However, our fleet continues to age. As it ages, the buses become less reliable, meaning that we have to keep more off the road, so they can replace any bus that breaks down(2). Replacing our aging buses means we need fewer spares, allowing more buses to move Edmontonians around our city. New buses mean better fuel efficiency and greater reliability, which translates to a greener city, a cheaper transit system, and more buses when you need them. Right now, the city has only funded 7% of the new buses, with 390 replacement buses needing funding(2).
Even replacing our current buses won’t be enough to get transit where we need it to be. For that, we’re going to need to grow our fleet. Remember how we said Edmonton is expected to grow by almost 10% over a 4 year period? Our bus fleet needs to grow too to keep up with demand. We’re asking the city to fund the procurement of 100 new buses for ETS and the replacement of 390 buses(1). We’re also calling on all three orders of government to provide the capital needed to construct the storage and maintenance facilities our city needs to grow our fleet to meet the needs of Edmontonians.
We believe that all Edmontonians deserve a safe and accessible transit system that meets their daily needs. We think Council does too. But the reality is that ETS is not getting the funding necessary to do that. We need increased operational and capital funding in order to grow ETS to a level that gets you to work, your kids to school, and your loved ones wherever else they may need to be. Join us in calling on City Council to give us the ETS we deserve! One of the easiest ways to do this is by emailing [email protected] with your thoughts.
References:
- TRANSIT SERVICE NEEDS TO MEET POPULATION GROWTH. City Operations, City of Edmonton. CO02481. Presented to Executive Committee Oct. 9, 2024.
- CO02086 Bus Fleet Replacement Plan (presentation). Robar, Hotton, Feldman. Presented to Urban Planning Committee March 19, 2024