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ETS Bus and General Transit Improvements

The_Cat said:
I wonder if 51 Avenue could be extended east to 17 Street, and another route introduced from Meadows going west on 17 Street, west on 51 Avenue, north on 34 Street, west on Roper Road all the way to 75 Street, and north to Davies Station.
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Hi everyone. I've been lurking here for a couple years now but I haven't had the driving need to comment on anything up till now.
As someone who Works in the Industrial zone east of 34th and north of Whitemud, I drive. But the only reason I drive is because there is no effective bus service. I cannot safely get to a stop of the 505 before the last bus has gone in the afternoon and in the morning it is a 25 minute wait for it. If I skip the 505 it is a 30 minute walk to the route of the 53, which gets me the closest to home. Or I can do a 20 minute walk to the route of the 506 which will get me to Davies Transit Center. Both walks are fine most of the year. But are brutal in the winter do to un cleared sidewalks and high snow berms. If there was better bus service I would stop driving and just go back to taking transit full time.
 
I'm not sure if the numbers are spring/summer numbers but I'm thinking the numbers could be up on connecting routes once the LRT is open.
 
AJo said:
Hi everyone. I've been lurking here for a couple years now but I haven't had the driving need to comment on anything up till now.
As someone who Works in the Industrial zone east of 34th and north of Whitemud, I drive. But the only reason I drive is because there is no effective bus service. I cannot safely get to a stop of the 505 before the last bus has gone in the afternoon and in the morning it is a 25 minute wait for it. If I skip the 505 it is a 30 minute walk to the route of the 53, which gets me the closest to home. Or I can do a 20 minute walk to the route of the 506 which will get me to Davies Transit Center. Both walks are fine most of the year. But are brutal in the winter do to un cleared sidewalks and high snow berms. If there was better bus service I would stop driving and just go back to taking transit full time.
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Thanks for sharing some of the challenges/deficiencies out there. One option, although not for everyone, is taking a bike instead of walking those distances to your bus stops or home as it is significantly faster - buses are nicely equipped to take bikes as an option.

I certainly see bikes on our lrt, too, which are allowed. People ride bike to lrt from home and then lrt station to workplace.

Nice thing about this option are the health benefits, too, versus driving.
 
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TAS said:
Thanks for sharing some of the challenges/deficiencies out there. One option, although not for everyone, is taking a bike instead of walking those distances to your bus stops or home as it is significantly faster - buses are nicely equipped to take bikes as an option.
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I had thought of that. I live in Alberta Avenue so getting to the 53 at Coliseum or anything downtown is easy. But the bike rack on the front of the 53 is usually already full when it hits Coliseum. And even if the VLSE was running I'm not sure I would feel safe cycling down to it. Especially on 95 street which would be the most direct.
 
AJo said:
I had thought of that. I live in Alberta Avenue so getting to the 53 at Coliseum or anything downtown is easy. But the bike rack on the front of the 53 is usually already full when it hits Coliseum. And even if the VLSE was running I'm not sure I would feel safe cycling down to it. Especially on 95 street which would be the most direct.
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I believe the city is building a dedicated cycle path along 96 street from Alberta Ave which would go directly to the VLSE station (96 st and 102 Ave). As it is now, it's an option with much less traffic than 95 street.
 
TAS said:
I believe the city is building a dedicated cycle path along 96 street from Alberta Ave which would go directly to the VLSE station (96 st and 102 Ave). As it is now, it's an option with much less traffic than 95 street.
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Thank you TAS. I'll try to check that out this evening. Between the VLSE finally opening and safe(er) route I can hopefully ditch the car for a while at least.
Though it would be nice if the actually installed a SAFE legal crossing of 34 street once they finish all the road work they are currently doing. Right now the only safe crossings are Whitemud and 76th Ave.
 
The fall transit changes were posted today. The major changes include:

  • Route 31 - ETS is pleased to provide riders with a new bus route, using a dedicated lane, that will provide express service from the University to the Leger Transit Centre on Terwillegar Drive.
    This route will initially operate on weekdays, excluding statutory holidays. Additional time periods will be explored in the future.
  • Route 110X - Stops have been added northbound and southbound at 107 Avenue and 109 Street.
    Route 140X will service all stops on 127 Street between 118 Avenue and 148 Avenue.
  • Route 500X will begin two-way service between Downtown (MacEwan) and Meadows, including mid-day service, and will have minor downtown routing changes.
    Trips will now start and end at 103 Avenue and 106 Street WB (#11382)
  • Route 701 will have a permanent route change starting travelling directly north and south on 106 Street between 51 Avenue and 56 Avenue starting November 5. New bus stops will be established on 106 Street between 51 Avenue and 56 Avenue.
  • Route 722 will be removed from Blackmud Creek and be re-routed to James Mowatt Trail and Rutherford Road. Service in this neighbourhood will be replaced with On Demand Transit that will have improved coverage due to additional bus stops within the neighbourhood.
    Alternative nearby service is also provided by Route 521 along Ellerslie Road and by Route 722 along James Mowatt Trail.
  • Route 724 will now travel counterclockwise when travelling through Brander Gardens, instead of clockwise. This is a one-year pilot project for all traffic with the goal of increasing pedestrian safety around Tempo and Brander Gardens Schools.
  • Route 724 will have temporary stops on 148 Street northbound between 56 Avenue and Riverbend Road.
  • Route 920X will operate express service between West Edmonton Mall Transit Centre and 82 Avenue (U of A campus).
  • Strathcona County Transit Route 411 will add stops in Cloverdale at 98 Avenue and 96A Streets (#2242 & #2127) to service Cloverdale residents and provide future connections to the Valley Line LRT Southeast at Muttart Station.
 
I wonder why they’re using 122 St rather than Fox Dr which has a bus lane.
6258D7A3-F796-4317-A26B-A0C30B59299F.jpeg
 
EdwardEdm said:
The 55 has been on detour via 122 St when westbound, although, I thought that detour was ending.
The 31 does use Fox Drive/ Whitemud when southbound.
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That’s kinda why I’m confused, I mean it’s not like 122 St is known for being super busy so it won’t get backed up or anything but why not take advantage of the faster dedicated lanes. My only guess is they don’t want the buses to have to cross 3 lanes of traffic between Terwillegar and Fox dr.
 
One thing that will be nice (for Sherwood Park buses) will be the Cloverdale bus stops next to the Valley Line LRT. That means access to all LRT, I still think that a bus route like Capilano-Gov't Centre LRT-Kingsway would make a good crosstown route.
 
Now that the new route brochures are out for the fall, I've mapped the routes with 10 minute frequencies or better at am peak periods.

Compared to the 2021 map, there are a few routes that have dropped from 10 minute frequency to 12 minutes. But an interesting addition is route 523 from Downtown to Mill Woods which I believe is unique in that it's 10 minute frequency in the outbound (from downtown) direction.

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If you spot any mistakes, let me know and I'll be happy to fix them.
 
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