More Edmontonians taking transit

A record-breaking 6.4 million completed trips were recorded by the Edmonton Transit which is a 22% increase compared to last year. Edmontonians say affordability is one of the factors for choosing transit over cars. Our Leo Cruzat reports

More and more Edmontonians are choosing to ride the transit whether that is on a train or in a bus, according to the City of Edmonton, as they hit a record-breaking number of riders just this October.

The City says 6.4 million riders took transit in October, which is up by 22 per cent compared to last year. For some Edmontonians, it’s not a surprise.

“I’m NOT surprised by it because most of the students and international students as well are using ETS right,” said one Edmontonian CityNews spoke to.

Another one adding, “I think it’s good that people are taking the bus.”

For one, it still frustrates them as they say, “I’m taking a bus, currently it’s a two-hour commute each way, and the services have not increased.”

It is not just overall transit ridership that receives historic highs, Edmonton also recorded an estimated 300,000 monthly ridership in the Valley Line Southeast doubling the number since the train started operating. 

On-demand transit also hit a new record with more than 72-thousand riders. 

“It’s a sign that the investments that we’ve made, adding transit service hours and redesigning the bus networks, we’re providing more transit more often to more people and that’s leading to more ridership,” said Michael Janz, councillor for Ward Papastew.

So what is the reason for the increasing number of commuters? Edmontonians CityNews spoke to say driving is too expensive.

“Absolutely, affordability is one of them, transit is much more affordable when you don’t have to pay car insurance, when you don’t have to pay parking, when you don’t have to pay as cost,” said Janz.

Despite the increasing number of commuters, Janz says that the fare revenue is still a big challenge and will take longer to recover due to changes in travel patterns affecting the type of fare.

“We still have a lot of folks right now who are benefiting from the low-income transit supports that we’ve received from the Government of Alberta … we know that affordability is still hitting many Edmontians and that’s the lagging indicator that we need to catch up to.”

According to the City of Edmonton, they are on track to exceed 60 million riders in 2024.

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