Graphic by Victoria Lockridge

Is Edmonton getting the transit it deserves?

What are your issues with public transit? Every MacEwan student is aware of, and has possibly been late to class because of the construction of Valley Line West in front of campus. Many others have felt unsafe while riding the LRT back home after a late lecture. You may have opted out of the U-Pass and are now stuck paying $3.75 for bus fare. Regardless of your problems with transit, I’m sure you can think of at least one thing you’d change about it to make your day-to-day easier. 

Like many other students at MacEwan, I take the LRT to class every morning. First, I hop on the train at Stadium Station, then ride four stops to Corona Station, get above ground, and make what should be a ten-minute walk to campus. Now, since I have to cross through the Valley Line construction, it adds at least another five minutes to my walk, which brings my total commute time to over 35 minutes – only a little faster than walking the whole way. I have one of the easier commutes for students. I’m talking to the students living on the west end or, God forbid, in St. Albert. But that’s the issue that faces us in a car-dependent city like Edmonton. You either drive everywhere or stop complaining because you can “just get a car,” which is just an arrogant statement, but whatever.

It doesn’t have to be this way either. Many cities around the world have public transit systems that are perfectly functioning, affordable, clean, and safe. Even our twin city Calgary has a system called The Free Fare Zone, which allows Calgary riders to use the C-Train in their downtown core for free. Calgary’s transit system is quite similar to Edmonton’s, according to a document released by the Government of Canada. Calgary and Edmonton are neck and neck in almost every transit rider category except for one notable area. 

In May 2025, Calgary had 13.5 per cent of its Metro population using public transit, while Edmonton had only 8.1 per cent. It’s not out of the question to suggest that Edmonton should consider implementing a similar initiative to Calgary’s Free Fare Zone, given its success. It may actually increase ridership in Edmonton.

However, students can only speculate on these hypothetical ‘what-if’ possibilities for so long before they need to see real action.

“We take the safety of all riders really critically, and we’ve done a lot of work over the last few years to work on transit safety. There’s still room for improvement and work we want to do,” says Sarah Feldman, director of transit planning, ridership, and revenue for the City of Edmonton, to discuss some of the transit issues facing Edmontonians.

Safe transit is essential and comes with some potential benefits. Increased ridership, hopefully pulling people away from their car-dependent ways in the city, would result in fewer people producing emissions and fewer vehicles on the road. That means more opportunities for downsizing large roadways and making way for housing and new businesses, which in turn would create new jobs for new people, ultimately leading to a brighter and happier transit experience as well as a brighter and happier Edmonton. 

“We take the safety of all riders really critically, and we’ve done a lot of work the last few years to work on transit safety. There’s still room for improvement and work we want to do.”

– Sarah Feldman

Post-secondary students aren’t the only ones who would benefit either. Most children in Edmonton are barred from using the Yellow Bus system after grade six, and must move on to regular City transit. Safer transit systems would benefit both the kids and ease parents’ stresses about putting their children on transit. 

“We see lots of youth taking transit, in the junior high, high school age group. I think time of day, and the volume of riders plays a big factor, a lot of students are travelling all together on school specials around school time, and there’s generally a feeling of safety when it’s those busier times of day,” says Feldman.

Something that affects all MacEwan students regardless of how they get around is transit construction, specifically the 104 Ave. Valley Line construction that spans the entire front of campus. The construction not only impacts commute times but also affects traffic, parking, and the overall aesthetic of the campus. The Valley Line West, a large transit infrastructure project that will connect Edmonton’s west end to the downtown core, appears to be the focal point of ETS’s brand right now, with its construction being marketed as a symbol of Edmonton’s future. We can see this in the concept art adorning existing LRT  stations, making them look very futuristic.

“When the Valley Line was first conceived of many years ago, and when we did the redesign of the bus routes, we launched that in 2021, we actually built the bus routes in the west end around the idea that the Valley Line was going there,” says Feldman. 

ETS has clearly planned for the Valley Line’s arrival for some time now, and with increased work being done on the construction by Marigold Infrastructure, hopefully the rough year or two of construction will be worthwhile if we get more reliable transit connecting these two ends of the city.

For most post-secondary students in Edmonton, fare prices are relatively affordable thanks to the U-Pass. However, it’s worth mentioning that Edmonton’s bus fare is quite expensive for most people. “The fees for transit are also set as part of the budget process, with the operating budget the council approves a user fee schedule for all different services like rec centers, development charges, and everything,” Feldman says. 

ETS has to juggle a lot when it comes to building a budget, so getting Edmonton’s city council to agree to decrease bus fare would be a challenging process. Feldman added that “usually they go up, it’s unlikely they go down,” however ETS was able to decrease the monthly price of youth fare from $73 to $66, which is 65 per cent off of the adult fare.

It seems like ETS is actively working on, or at least considering, the benefits of solving these issues. While this is reassuring, it can still be frustrating to hear that they have been aware of all these problems for so long, and yet these transit issues persist with what feels like little to no improvement in most people’s day-to-day lives. So, when is it just not enough? Most, if not all of the major solutions can be categorized into three broad areas: time, quality, and money. For example, construction issues require a time- and money-saving solution, ridership issues require a quality- and money-saving solution, and safety problems require solutions that address all three. What you’ll notice is that all of these require money, which is mostly provided by the government through taxes. It is tough to justify raising taxes to fund ETS services, so unless the city council changes its priorities, ETS won’t be getting any large chunks of money anytime soon.

Many of these issues can be addressed with municipal support. If this is something that is important to you, consider sending letters, posting on social media, contacting local government officials, participating in forums, helping your community where you can, and most importantly, making your voice heard.