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LRT Safety

A number of recent incidents have happened on the platforms (ie. the fare paid areas), so I understand the push for fare gates. The more central stations had them or were built for them at one time.

So, it really shouldn't be too hard to add them. Of course this is government and there seems to be little incentive for cost control, so it probably costs $20,000 to change a light bulb.

Another reason is perceptions around safety and I think even a number on council now realize something needs to be done so people will have confidence to use LRT and transit more again.
 
JuliallThat said:
Which old stations are built for faregates? Churchill, Central, Bay, Corona... Coliseum? and I can't remember, did Government Centre have a spot for them? Stadium used to be but now that's changed.
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All underground stations were built for them. Renovations might have changed it a little, however, in some of them.
Looking at the layout, wouldn't be hard to install them in all of the DT stations, Coliseum, Southgate and Century Park.
 
David A said:
A number of recent incidents have happened on the platforms (ie. the fare paid areas), so I understand the push for fare gates. The more central stations had them or were built for them at one time.

So, it really shouldn't be too hard to add them. Of course this is government and there seems to be little incentive for cost control, so it probably costs $20,000 to change a light bulb.

Another reason is perceptions around safety and I think even a number on council now realize something needs to be done so people will have confidence to use LRT and transit more again.
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The Calgary study gets cited a ton. Are there others examples of cities that have or haven’t done them with data and research behind them? It’s hard because it’s so contextual…but it’s a costly thing to do if it doesn’t solve the problem.

I also worry it puts all our eggs in 1 basket and we won’t do the others things also needed (cleaning, personnel, aesthetic improvements, etc).
 
ChazYEG said:
All underground stations were built for them. Renovations might have changed it a little, however, in some of them.
Looking at the layout, wouldn't be hard to install them in all of the DT stations, Coliseum, Southgate and Century Park.
Click to expand...
Churchill, Central had them, Bay, and Corona were built for them. Government Centre and University were not. In particular there is one elevator at University that goes from street level to platform level which sort of falls outside of the traditional fare collection areas. I think Government Centre is fine. I know for sure the south end you need to transfer elevators so the elevator to platform level can fall within the paid area, but I am not 100% sure about the north end. Central and Churchill's elevators fell outside of the fare paid area for the turnstiles. They had separate machines for fare collection that didn't have the turnstile component. Essentially back when the LRT opened, you could avoid the turnstiles just by using an elevator Downtown.
Central's elevator could easily be incorporated into a new fare paid area controlled by faregates, Churchill's would be a bit harder. Bay and Corona were designed a bit better to include the elevator in the fare paid area, but, Edmonton Transit had

I do think fare gates are a way to help. My first experience goes back to 2005, when after a trip to Toronto, I found it remarkable how little security I saw in the stations, but, how safe it felt. And I mean I generally felt safe in Edmonton already, but, the TTC's subways seemed just that much safer.

This $400 million figure out of Calgary I think is crap. I think this is a consultant who has gone to the extreme to dissuade Calgary from even considering faregates for whatever reason. For $400 million, that figure must include significant modifications to 7th Ave stations to create faregate controlled areas, and this would mean building a lot of walls and/ or fences.

Vancouver was south of $200 million ($186 million?) for their entire Skytrain system. I saw something from Tim Cartmell about a unsolicited quote of $30 million to do Edmonton's LRT system.

The two new NLRT station don't look like they will support faregates too easily.
 
Foolworm said:

Can we finally point fingers at the Province, who has been downloading the burden to the Cities and subsequently blaming them for not doing enough?

(The answer is NO.)
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I expect the Province to step up and take responsibility just like the police did after dropping off and interacting with the Chinatown double homicide perpetrator. /s

Just kidding, they will do the same thing the police did. Blame the City and non-profit sector despite the massive inequity in funding and responsibility.
 
This account has become quite popular on social media, it aggregates a lot of unfortunate situations that occur around the Edmonton area. While I do feel like it has had an oversized impact on negative sentiment towards our city, I also can’t really fault parents for example seeing videos like this and thinking twice about using transit with their family. https://x.com/yegwave/status/1736542508425839025?s=46&t=WtcUbUvx-_TEb_qX6iswZg
 
I support direct action to stop this if any of us are on a train while this happens. Horrible behaviour, by a sick and bad person.
 
BASE said:
This account has become quite popular on social media, it aggregates a lot of unfortunate situations that occur around the Edmonton area. While I do feel like it has had an oversized impact on negative sentiment towards our city, I also can’t really fault parents for example seeing videos like this and thinking twice about using transit with their family. https://x.com/yegwave/status/1736542508425839025?s=46&t=WtcUbUvx-_TEb_qX6iswZg
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These sorts of accounts do a lot more harm than good I fear. 604tv, Calgary wildin, 6ixbuzz, etc. every city has them. And they primarily share about violence, crime, car accidents, drugs, fights, or controversial topics/current news. Very much leads to a heightened awareness of the negatives and even a fixation on them vs everything else that happens in a city daily.

There’s always been crime daily in a city, but seeing 3-4 posts a day about it makes you feel a lot less safe. Sometimes ignorance is bliss.
 
Much more harm tbh, and it really REALLY contributes to the ridiculous perceptions around transit, downtown and the city in general. I took a look at the comments on Twitter and guess what? Most of the comments and accounts boosting that specific post are from right wing/Alberta separatist (from rural Alberta probably) accounts who took no time on lambasting and crapping on the city as always.

What absolutely infuriates me is yegwave claiming they were a journalist outlet, like bro you get random videos from people and slap your watermark on them. An AI could do that, I'd argue a Twitch streamer has more credibility than that.
 
CBC/CTV have a vetting process staffed by journalists and you can trust the information is accurate.

Yegwave will post text messages and stuff about incidents and run with them and while it feels like a scoop there's no way to verify that information. "Meth on the LRT, Thoughts? 🤔" Isn't journalism
 
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Trash it may be but the simple solution is to remove people using illegal drugs from public transit spaces as soon as possible. No major world city allows this to go on - transit is not a social service, it is a vital transportation option that has to be attractive to the "ordinary joes" out there.
 
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