Edmonton Transit says On Demand Transit has been a success, with increasing ridership and recent funding support from city council, but Episode 214 of Speaking Municipally questioned that conclusion.
"That we are still lauding this as a success indicates some of the failures of our public transit system, which has been chronically underinvested in the past decade and a half," said Troy Pavlek, co-host of Taproot Edmonton's civic affairs podcast.
According to CBC Edmonton, ridership has "mostly been on an upswing" since the On Demand Service launched in April 2021 in 37 neighbourhoods and 16 seniors residences alongside the Bus Network Redesign. Last year, the service expanded to 50 neighbourhoods and 18 seniors residences.
Pavlek suggested the existence of the service is a symptom of a larger problem that the Bus Network Redesign brought into relief. "That came at the expense of service to the fringes of our city, because we were unwilling to invest additional transit dollars," he said.
The service was originally funded for two years. In December 2022, as part of the 2023-2026 operating budget, city council approved $7.84 million per year to make the On Demand Transit service permanent. That amount will increase by $3.657 million in 2024, $193,000 in 2025, and $194,000 in 2026. Council also approved a service package to expand off-peak and on-demand service, with $1.765 million in 2023, $3.042 million in 2024, $56,000 in 2025, and $54,000 in 2026.
Daniel Vriend, director of planning and scheduling with Edmonton Transit, told CBC the funding will help address long wait times. A survey presented to city council's community and public services committee in October 2022 by VIA, the city's On Demand Transit app provider, found that 84% of users would like to see the service expand to avoid long wait times.
Pavlek said that is further evidence of the lack of investment in transit.
"Let's just flip this on its head and say that 84% of residents who we have cut all bus service to and gave a scrap from a private provider would support additional scraps being distributed to them," Pavlek said.
He further described On Demand Transit as a subsidy to cars. "It allows us to continue to sprawl," Pavlek said. "And to continue to say that we serve all these areas via transit without actually doing that."
Hear more about this, as well as reaction to the federal budget, the latest on Boyle Street's new developments, and the increasing number of incidents between drivers and the LRT, on the March 31 episode of Taproot's civic affairs podcast.
Photo: Edmonton Transit plans to expand the On Demand Transit service in the current four-year budget cycle. (City of Edmonton/YouTube)