ETS Bus and General Transit Improvements

[The_Cat]

I think paying five dollars for a 747 bus ride to the airport is a sweet deal.

 

[The_Cat]

I wonder how customers a 737 Max bus service would get.

 

[ChazYEG]

Nope. With tip it is $75-80.

Flat rate to downtown​

The flat rate for transportation to downtown Edmonton:

• Taxi: $62

Taxis, limos & rideshares

flyeia.com

That's why almost no one takes cabs anymore.
On a bad day, Uber/Lyft will cost $50-55.

 

[IanO]

I wonder how customers a 737 Max bus service would get.

Easy ingress/egress given the options.

 

[The_Cat]

Any relatives visiting Edmonton sometimes use my free taxi service.

 

[David A]

I think paying five dollars for a 747 bus ride to the airport is a sweet deal.

I agree, it is. But of course you have to get to Century Park first. So obviously, you can and would charge more for a direct route for visitors going from downtown.

I don't know what amount would work, but given the costs of other transportation $15 to $20 or maybe more is probably reasonable.

 

[YEG Bus Rider]

 

[Barnaby]

I agree, it is. But of course you have to get to Century Park first. So obviously, you can and would charge more for a direct route for visitors going from downtown.

I don't know what amount would work, but given the costs of other transportation $15 to $20 or maybe more is probably reasonable.

It's the municipal airport. It should be close to the standard ETS fare.

 

[David A]

Realistically, the fare needs to cover (or mostly cover) the cost of having this additional and fairly long route, otherwise it will not happen. In fact it has already been shot down by the city because of cost.

Many users would be visitors and higher income travelers, so I don't know we would want to subsidize them to the same extent as regular ETS users.

 

[erudyk_29]

Tbh I rode the 747 to a flight once and it was pretty seamless. Took the LRT from the University to Century Park, got on the bus and was there with plenty of time. The connection to downtown directly would definitely be useful. I seriously don't understand how the cost could possibly be so enormous as to basically kill the idea immediately, especially considering how it would be a very useful connection for a lot of people. I mean, there have to be existing stops along the route that could easily be used. You don't have to build like 40 new bus stops or something like that. I get that there's labor and fuel costs, but those exist with literally every bus line? Why would this one be soooo expensive? Doesn't really seem to make sense to me.

 

[ChazYEG]

Tbh I rode the 747 to a flight once and it was pretty seamless. Took the LRT from the University to Century Park, got on the bus and was there with plenty of time

If I'm travelling for leisure, with plenty of time to spare (and in the spring or summer) I'm fine using it, but the prospect of having to do this transfer when it's really cold/snowy/icy out, or if I'm on a tight schedule because I'm travelling for work doesn't really sound appealing. Until we manage to build the LRT to the airport, we should definitely be providing a direct connection to Downtown, at the very least.

 

[JuliallThat]

Just anecdotal, but the last time I used the 747, though the bus itself was fine, there was an unexplained LRT delay on the way down there, we were stuck at South Campus station for around 15m. We left with a pretty decent margin of error, but almost missed the 747 bus because of that.
It all felt kind of flaky, and I would've much rather caught the airport bus downtown rather than way at the end of the LRT line.

 

[IanO]

You definitely need to leave more time or have options ready once you get to C.P.

I've had to take a cab once I got to C.P. because of a missed bus more than once due to LRT delays.

 

[BrettB]

Doubling frequencies on the 747 service would also go a long way to solving that problem.

 

[YEG Bus Rider]

City Administration should have requested to reschedule the Airport-Downtown report until the March 19, 2024 Urban Planning Committee.


Committee would at least have had more & updated information about available resources, how ETS is using resources, ETS 2024 annual service plan, fleet renewal plans & so on.

At the same meeting during the discussion about co-mingling DATS & On Demand before Airport-Downtown, Mayor Sohi requested that ETS provide a memo outlining service improvements with recent investments.

ETS memos to council detailing service changes don’t mention route by route specifics.

This report ETS referenced to from Aug 29?

Identified gaps, expanded off-peak for 55, 56, 516, 903 as well as new service for Lewis Farms - Stillwater have been addressed starting from July 2023 service changes up to Feb 2024 service changes.