Airport Transit: Getting There
This follows up from a previous post of mine from last fall. Yesterday Council’s Transportation and Public Works Committee received this report and further debated the merits of transit service to the International Airport.
The City and County of Leduc are close to offering a commuter service to their citizens and employers that would connect to and/or through the airport. This service would most likely be operated by ETS as a charter, as is currently done for Spruce Grove and Ft. Saskatchewan, and would operate at peak hours only with a focus on moving commuters.
I argued that we have an narrow window of opportunity to leverage Leduc’s interest in providing transit for their citizens, and partner in a service which would also serve our citizens; this would compliment the Edmonton Regional Airport Authority’s interest in a relevant transit link from EIA to Century Park, which opens this week.
There was lengthy discussion about what the acceptable cost recovery would be for this service. Our ETS Advisory Board argued that while 100% cost recovery might be possible with only a 9% share of trips to and from the airport; capturing only 4% of those trips would match the usual cost recovery ratio of ETS service, which is around 43%. This assumes no contribution from the other municipalities or the airport authority, and a $2.50 charge each way. I’ve heard support for a higher cash fare as well, but pricing will be explored as part of any negotiations.
I believe we can effectively partner with the neighbouring municipalities and the Airport Authority, share any net cost of any service, establish a good precedent for regional collaboration, and make a stronger application for provincial Green Trip funding support. In that spirit, the motion which I proposed and was passed reads:
That the Transportation and Public Works Committee recommend to City Council that Administration approach the City of Leduc, the County of Leduc, the Edmonton Regional Airport Authority (and the Province as appropriate) to attempt to negotiate a partnership agreement and budget impacts for Council consideration that would implement peak and off-peak public transit service running direct from the Southern terminus of the LRT to the International Airport, building upon the potential ETS charter service serving the Capital Region Board partners and report back to the June 23, 2010, City Council meeting.
It’s not a done deal as this will doubtless get further debate at next week’s Council meeting, and then who knows how the negotiations will unfold.
Mack Male provided a nice summary here of some of the background. This is the Edmonton Journal story on the discussion. The Sun’s take is here.
Thanks for continuing to lead on this issue. Listening to the Council on the Web feed it sounded like there was opposition from a few quarters (taxi drivers, understandably). Reading the report to the committee I interpreted that there is not much much willingness from Administration to look for creative ways to make transit to the airport happen. Hopefully your motion will takes us one step closer to recognizing that YEG is an essential destination in our public transit network and deserves dedicated bus service.
There were some good discussions in twitter yesterday about this issue, many things were brought to light. Some of the potential problems come from using the Century Park lot, and the concept goes like this…
If people drive to this lot, and use it as the stepping stone for a ride to the EIA, there will bee issues with vehicles parked there for days, perhaps even weeks. Would there be a seperate area, secured, for them to park? And if so then one would think there should be a fee to do so. Also, what happens if someone comes back earlier or later than expected and the “lot” is closed? How do they get their vehicle out? Would 24 hour service be available?
What about people who hop the LRT at another location… there is the issue of luggage (maybe a small amount, maybe much more) handling and ‘consumed space’ on the LRT which could possibly pose a safety hazard.
And of course, the buses used can’t be of “normal” type, because of the luggage issues. Coach type buses (aka Greyhound style) would need to be purchased. To do this on an ‘experimental’ basis, is a huge cost.
Perhaps a better solution (bus wise) would be to contract Greyhound or Red Arrow to provide the service? Fee wise, the normal transit charge is way too low. Maybe something in the 5 to 10 dollar mark, and a “family plan price” could be worked out. Needless to say, this is a large can of worms that needs to be thought about, because this is not as simple, or as cut and dried, as it might seem. It is of course, a good thing to think about, lets make sure the proper thought is put into it before something is done.
if the costs can be shared with leduc I would be completely in favour of funding an airport bus.
I don’t think the city needs a cargo bus, although I can understand how useful they could be for this kind of service. people regularly take the buses and lrt in edmonton with all sorts of luggage, groceries, strollers, wheelchairs, ect. I doubt the bus would be full which leaves plenty of room for luggage, on the seat next to you.
parking shouldn’t be an issue. the whole point of taking transit or the taxi to the airport is to avoid paying parking. people taking the bus would likely use transit or a taxi to get to century park.
I think 5 dollars would be a fair fare for the airport bus.
Don, it was nice to meet you today at the LRT opening. Thanks for taking the lead on this important issue and making sure that administration takes steps to look into these creative solutions to provide service to the citizens of Edmonton. As a south side resident who has chosen not to own a car but who does use the airport about once per month this service is a necessity. It is also a necessity to make Edmonton a classy City. I too think that $5 is a fare charge for the service so long as it is non-stop from Century Park and is available for nearly all departures/arrivals. I also cornered Mayor Mandel and had a chat with him on the issue so hope the dialogue makes some impact.
The argument that the buses would need to be different or that the service must be nonstandard is rubbish – Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary, and many international cities serve their international airports with ordinary transit buses – or in some cases articulated buses to handle extra ridership. It’s shameful that a world-class city like Edmonton isolates itself from the airport by not providing transit service.
Since the bus will be in Leduc anyway, how about when the bus returns, they stop at a Leduc Park&Ride before coming back to Edmonton? I have a few co-workers downtown who live in Leduc. It would save them tonnes of gas to hop on a frequent bus service that will be going to the airport and back anyway.