As City Council prepares to discuss Bylaw 21502 — One Year Review of Bylaw 20700 (Public Spaces Bylaw) on October 6, 2026, Edmonton Transit Riders would like to voice our support of many local organizations who have highlighted that Bylaw 20700 requires immediate action on the part of Council, even before the full review is completed in late 2027. While Edmonton Transit Riders’ scope is strictly limited to the transit experience, we recognize and acknowledge that our partners may have additional concerns that overlap with our own.
Safety, civility, and availability are all components of system usability. While civility in transit spaces is always a primary concern for riders, maintaining availability for individuals across all walks of life who are using the system in a respectful and safe manner is a core mission of ETR. The Public Spaces Bylaw must tread the delicate line of ensuring a civil, safe, and usable transit system while also maintaining the safety, dignity, and support for individuals who may be poor, disenfranchised, unhoused, or precariously housed and are equally relying on public transit.
ETR fully supports the following comments and concerns that have been raised by Administration and Committee members:
- Banning sound amplification devices in transit stations and on transit vehicles.
- Developing operating procedures to suspend Section 37 (Use of Transit Spaces for Non-Transit Purposes) during extreme winter weather activations, and providing a memo to Council with updated procedures.
- Removing references to prescribed or authorized substances when referencing controlled substances.
To ensure our transit system balances community safety with equity and dignity, we are further recommending that City Council:
- Develop, maintain, and make accessible transparent procedures to ensure that individuals are connected to transit accessibility programs before being issued a ticket, and that those programs are easy to access and navigate.
- Review the efficacy and reasons for increased Section 37 enforcement, including the quadrupling of distributed warnings and doubling of distributed tickets issued under Use of Transit Spaces for Non-Transit Purposes. This analysis must evaluate whether increasing enforcement measures has:
- Discouraged individuals from repeating the behaviour or incurring further infractions under this section;
- Decreased the number of concerns or complaints surrounding the behaviour outlined in this section; and
- Increased other riders’ perceptions of safety.
- This must be accompanied by an analysis of the funding and deployment of enforcement resources alongside shelter availability and the unhoused population in Edmonton.
- Publish detailed fare enforcement and ticketing data to ensure transparent, auditable, and equitable fare enforcement practices.
- Evaluate animal carrier regulations, reviewing Part 3, Section 12 to evaluate whether the requirement of a kennel or carrier to bring animals on transit remains in line with other Canadian, North American, and global jurisdictions.
Edmonton Transit Riders’ primary aim is to ensure transit policies uphold both public order and basic human dignity. Transit riders deserve a system that is welcoming, accessible, and safe for everyone who uses it. We urge Council to take proactive, immediate steps to amend and refine Bylaw 20700.