Giving Edmonton a Transit Makeover

[@LucasSmart-nz8nu]

As an Edmontonian, I have never heard so many nice things said about our transit system.

[@harkavianbalvis6623]

@@LucasSmart-nz8nu it was legitimately wild to hear our transit system called 'decent' followed by unironic praise for the bike network. Really goes to show how much of a belly-aching echo chamber you can get in any given city.

[@milesmartin9624]

@@harkavianbalvis6623 In my experience half of Edmonton transit complaining is just "I see too many intoxicated homeless people" with nothing said about the actual LRT and buses themselves.

[@everetthorner]

As a relatively new Edmontonian, I would say things are really quite solid here from a transit ~and~ biking perspective. I just wish the upcoming projects could keep to schedule! But alas, that is not a uniquely Edmonton problem 🤷🏼‍♂️

[@cheesesausage427]

As an Edmontonian I agree as well with your opinion and the opinion of this video

[@tylerkonig7237]

@@everetthorner give it a couple years. You’ll get it, eventually.

[@afgr5523]

As an Edmontonion, I’m happy to see some more attention brought to our rail system. It’s far from perfect but we have a good base and I’m excited for the future.

[@RMTransit]

There's lot of potential, especially as Edmonton grows!

[@mikestoast]

The good base was everything underground on the original line. Everything since that has been a low key disaster, with poor routes that dont make geographical sense with the city, and were done out of "save time and money" which none of them have done. We are a radial city, the lines should have followed that as well. How do you not have a line running under 95% of jasper ave straight?

[@EverydayCanadianMan]

As a fellow Edmontonian I hate our transit. It can take over an hour to get place that take 10 in a car

[@TylerMelnychuk]

@@mikestoast the expansion to the university in the mid/late 90s was good. the surface level expansion beyond i agree.

[@LuxuriantCarrot]

🧅

[@davidreichert9392]

"Sometime between now and the heat death of the universe..." Brilliant, I'm going to be making good use of that at work.

[@RMTransit]

It's good isn't it!

[@MB-co6qj]

@@RMTransit did you just imply that it will happen before 2040?😧

[@Funnyclipshd0]

@@MB-co6qj nah not the current heat crisis 😂

[@ABAP0724]

@@MB-co6qj August 12th, 2036.

[@beyondtheshore3774]

As someone who uses Edmonton transit almost every day, there are certainly days where i want to rip my hair out but we definitely have a good base to build off of. I hope one day this city can live up to its potential with transit, it would be amazing

[@rileygladue3979]

as frustrating as the seasonal changes they make to the routes are, I know they're only doing it to adjust for future higher ridership

[@theautistictransitfan]

When Reece pulls out the transit crayons you know it’s gonna be a banger

[@illiiilli24601]

This. Many have questionable crayons, but Reece usually has good ones EDIT: I have a feeling it's a combination of two reasons. One is how he has a global perspective, so he's seen what works elsewhere and what doesn't, at least more than many English speakers, and doesn't suffer from "not invented here syndrome" that many do. Second is how he only really publicly crayons for cities he's lived in for many years and taken as a daily user, so he knows the conditions on the ground and what matters for said cities. Many people have one but not the other, but Reece has the somewhat rare combination of both.

[@fredashay]

People who built an HO model railroad also use high-quality colored pens for this sort of track planning.

[@TheLiamster]

It always is. I used to love crayoning as a kid now I love watching these videos

[@Rick-C-117]

I eat crayons

[@RMTransit]

Thanks for that!

[@ladytara7]

Best update for the 747- have the first run of the day arrive BEFORE the first morning shift for staff instead of ten minutes after.

[@botks894]

Edmonton excites me as its one of the few cities in canada (imo) thats actually trying to both implement more public transit and do something about the housing crisis, few cities seem to be willing to implement the drastic zoning reforms and invest in the necessary infrastructure for it

[@marcelwiszowaty1751]

Of course building more housing and implementing additional transit ought to be done in tandem anyway.

[@RMTransit]

A very good point, Edmonton makes me optimistic!

[@Jay-jq6bl]

@botks894 I'd rather see better thought out development, than simply allowing higher density everywhere. Plus, the high demand can help to fund said development and the infrastructure supporting it.

[@LukasTheBlue]

Yeah except that our property tax is way above any other city in Canada. Paying for all of this are the home owners. Property tax went up by about 8% this year...

[@racknae]

@@LukasTheBlue Edmonton isn't anywhere close to having the highest property tax, even after this year's increase. It doesn't even have the highest property tax in Alberta.

[@asomelord]

I really love that Bonny Doon -> West Edmonton Mall line. Whyte Ave is a hugely popular area, and that line could probably make the Zoo actually reasonable to get to for people without access to a vehicle. This, the airport connection, and the southern Metro line extension are easily my favourite additions to the network

[@Jay-jq6bl]

I'd rather see it as an automated light metro line, that can be built into a loop line at some point. Alberta should work w/ CN and CP for a land shuffle, to free up space along Yellowhead and south of Whyte. I don't know why he didn't mention the regional service Alberta is working on? What we should do changes in that context.

[@mcdangles971]

Whyte Ave, between the U of A transit centre and Bonnie Doon, would probably be the one line in the city that would make sense as a street level tram. The kind that you can hop on and off, like in San Francisco. The historical trams that go across the High Level could even be used for special occasions. Unrealistic since this city couldn't plan their way out of a paper bag it seems, but that would be cool to see.

[@Kiwibirdman1701]

@@asomelord Laurier Park residents and the River Valley tree huggers would never allow it.

[@lance-biggums]

​@@mcdangles971Yep, 100%. They had their heart set on using trams as regional/suburban rail instead.

[@highway2heaven91]

@@Jay-jq6blI think that Reece covered this in another video.

[@ktbphoto]

Ideas has never been Edmonton's problem. Enacting on plans is the part we suck at. Especially in a timely manner...

[@sma4827]

I'm an engineering student and have many friends who've worked for the city and contractors on the valley line for their internships. they've all told me that the shear amount of bureaucracy it takes to make any change is abysmal and leads to some shady practices 🙃

[@TheMapler1]

@@sma4827 wow that's crazy

[@Ilikelavenders]

There's only 2 seasons here, winter and construction

[@SheenaMalfoy]

Edmonton really needs that Whyte Ave to WEM line built yesterday. So much east-west traffic with not-very-good bus routes that could be massively improved by a system with priority over vehicular traffic...

[@stickynorth]

100% Thank former Mayor Mandel for both deflecting the proposed 87 Ave LRT bridge away from HIS area and voter base (rich, crusty monied West End Conservatives) to the existing 156 St route far away from the potential mansions affected by this project... What a shame because it's the busiest route that I can think of... At least now since the 8 changed...

[@mikestoast]

That was a terrible planned route. Our LRT plan is a mess with no real logic just "hey let's go down this street for the heck of it" but cancelling that route was the correct choice. There is nothing along fox drive and most of whitemud. It would have skipped population for "expediency" It should have run under jasper out under stony plain road.

[@mikestoast]

@@stickynorth The plan was not go go down 87th ave. It was to go down belgravia and down fox drive up along whitemud to WEM. A line that would avoid population. We knew someone who got one of the construction contracts for the south leg from the U of A station, and they talked how this was supposed to how the line got out west. Thankfully it never happened.

[@ScooterinAB]

Absolutely agree. I put together a transit map like this when the Valley Line was about to open and came up with something similar, only far more aggressive. Where this plan expands on what's there, my plan focused on connecting what is there and expanding from that. Getting better cross-city connections would mean the LRT is connecting more communities than any outward expansion alone can do.

[@babylonmustfall]

If there was a half decent mall on the SE side there would be no need for all this over-blown taxpayer funded budgets.

Extension to the YEG airport would be very useful for Edmonton and LeDuc. Reducing travel time and better transit options for airport (one of the largest employer) can significantly improve worker job quality, talent pool, and productivity.

[@craigmorgan1479]

Increasing service on the 747 bus route, as Reece mentioned, feels like such a simple first step. The 1 hour window in the early morning or evening, just crushes my desire to use it. Particularly when I arrive home in the evening, have had a couple of 55 minute waits Boost the 30 minute runs to 15. The hour to 30. And better integrate with Leduc.

[@stickynorth]

Or the first part of a proper regional/commuter rail line using the CP ROW... The whole corridor between Edmonton and Calgary really is one large linear city with smaller and smaller gaps between towns and cities every year.. Break it into 3 operating sections Edm, RD, Cgy and offer services to each area with local overlap to make connections between them at say Wetaskiwin and Olds...

[@Jay-jq6bl]

@@stickynorth I'm hoping they create a new ROW, branching off from CP to go under the airport, then to the west side of Leduc, w/ a new station there, then sort of like slalom, flank the towns along the way with a much straighter ROW and brand new rail focused areas that tie into the existing towns.

[@mcdangles971]

There is also a fashion outlet mall right beside the airport that was just recently built, but the distance and lack of public transit (the 747 bus is near useless) makes it quite inaccessible for Edmontonians. A connection to the city by light rail, and a possible high speed rail line to Calgary (terminated at YYC airport, maybe?), would be a major boost to tourism and local businesses.

[@Jay-jq6bl]

Picture this, if the LRT went over to the CP alignment before Nisku, you could have a connector with service to Beaumont, Devon, at a regional station, then having another regional station on the west side of Leduc, that crosses the LRT again, after it has served several station in between. Even if LRT is grade separated, it's still very slow because there's no express service.

[@TKCEDM]

Great video. I do feel like Windermere and Terwillegar were ignored for the most part though. Those are probably the largest growing areas in the city and Ellerslie Road's poor planning is absolutely facing the consequences of that mass expansion right now.

[@MrLukealbanese]

Excellent Reece. I had a year working on the Edmonton system a decade ago and I really like the city.

[@RMTransit]

That's very cool to hear!

[@yaygya]

Some of the corridors you mentioned for rapid bus routes are actually already used for crosstown bus routes, like the 51 (Castle Downs to Westmount segment), 52 (Westmount to Wem segment), 55 (Wem to Meadows along Whitemud via Southgate), and 56 (Meadows to Mill Woods segment). These are great routes for getting across the city in my experience, but the problem my encounter with them is that they often have half hour frequencies outside of peak hours, and also stop everywhere along the route. I think these should be supplemented by frequent limited stop express services that would greatly reduce travel time, something like what the 43 and now R4 are to the 41 in Vancouver. I also think there’s room for another crosstown bus service along Ellerslie Road in the south, as there are a lot of communities from Windermere through Charlesworth along it, a travelling between them, requires taking buses across the Henday to transfer on 23 Ave NW, which just wastes a lot of time I never actually thought about running a Valley Line branch along Whyte Avenue that way. The Strathcona area today is annoying in that getting there from the LRT system is a bit time-consuming. In many cases, the best option isn’t even an ETS bus but rather Sherwood Park’s 404 (when it runs), or riding a bike. Overall, this is a great video and I could really see a lot of the changes positively impact how I get around the city. I’m going to share this with my councillor.

[@RMTransit]

Suburban bus frequencies need to be improved across the board of course!

[@JackHarms-pf5nv]

Although a BRT orbital route on the Henday would be great.

[@DavidTonner]

Thanks!

[@RMTransit]

Thanks David :)

[@papanga1197]

Planning to move to Edmonton sometime within 3 years if all goes to plan. I'm a student of Civil Engineering with a Major in Transportation. I'll take these to heart if I ever do land a job there in its transport sector. Thanks!

[@rhysdavies1190]

Building an LRT bridge across the river is on par with a freeway bridge across the river. The bridges to university and SE Edmonton have proven to be vital links.

[@simonbone]

There are a lot of similarities between Edmonton and the Tyne and Wear Metro in the UK. Both started in the 1970s using existing rail lines connected to a new central tunnel, with German-based rolling stock. Both later faced financial problems being able to extend the tunnel to useful destinations (west Newcastle - still not connected, and south Edmonton). And both later had planners who wanted to turn it into urban LRT, rather than see it as the subway it is (the 2002 Project Orpheus would have made much of the TW Metro street running, but was never implemented - while Edmonton got all the problematic street running when it finally extended south and especially on the NAIT extension). Having grown up in both Newcastle and Edmonton, I can say these are both amazing systems that did a lot for their communities - and yet still faced trouble getting approval/funding for badly needed extensions and improvements.

[@RMTransit]

A great comparison and very apt - thank you for this! That being said, TW Metro really ought to inspire Edmonton with those *beautiful* new Stadler trains!

[@alyaxly339]

Do a video like this but for Winnipeg. Winnipeg is seriously a backwards city, transit-wise, and I would love to see how you would plan and design a effective and functional transit system for them!

[@slikespitfire4751]

As an Edmontonian, I’ve never so so much praise for our transit system before, and your ideas make me excited to see this city grow!

[@coleeckert6182]

Just got back home from Norway and the public transit was sooo efficient, clean, safe, and dummy proof. The tram (light rail) takes you right from the Bergen airport all the way to city centre, or any stop in between. Makes landing at the airport and getting to the hotel bloody easy. The cars were coupled like he describes in this video too, which was nice. Accidentally walk into a full car? just stroll down into the next one that has space. It ran very frequently too, every 7 minutes. I hope our transit can begin to look more like theirs.

[@abeekuadventures380]

I miss that about Europe. That's how it was when I was in the Netherlands.

[@travisewart4551]

I think one of the most prominent things with this is of what was proposed for LRT lines as i understand it kinda follows the original plans back when its construction began things like a line extending out to St Albert or just further out into the city were all there originally or proposed future expansions (it was also supposed to be mostly underground if my memory serves correct) but City council underestimating costs and a dispute with St Albert lead to the majority of the original plans getting axed or delayed indefinitely. And all of this really sums up (at least to my understanding) Edmonton's biggest problem City burocrats not wanting to put in the time/Money to do it right the first time but still expecting it to work like planned. And this can be further showcased by the current Valley line expansion, 3years late, massively over buget because the paid for cheep construction initially and then had to fixt it as it began to fail before it was finished and no safety lights/arms installed at ground crossings to save money despite basically everyone who isn't city burocrats thinking its a bad idea.

[@travisewart4551]

Sorry for the ramble, my city's transit mess drives me a little nuts, I genuinely wish something like proposed in the video would happen because it would probably be incredibly helpful.

[@FHL-Devils]

Wow, I remember growing up in Edmonton (1975-2000) and St. Albert was basically a whole different city... now it's barely a suburb, and soon will be nothing more than a neighborhood inside Edmonton.

[@stickynorth]

75,000 people and growing faster by the day....

[@hoodedmirror1051]

Most ppl in St. Albert work out of Edmonton anyway. New small businesses tend to struggle in St Albert

[@FHL-Devils]

@@stickynorth My comment wasn't about its size, but of its location related to EDM over the decades.

[@FHL-Devils]

@@hoodedmirror1051 - Sounds like Airdrie to Calgary. A lifestyle community for people who don't want to live in Calgary, without giving up the conveniences of the city.

[@hoodedmirror1051]

@@FHL-Devils Thats exactly it. Its a small outside city with slightly better schools, parks, etc. And then a lot of people take a 30 minute commute to Edmonton every weekday

[@EthanMarkWoodruff]

I'm so happy to see more Edmonton based content!

[@vinokai]

Sometime in the near future they’ll probably have to extend the Valley line west a bit further, as more neighborhoods expand west of Edmonton. There’s also gonna be a huge rec centre being built in Lewis Estate/ just past Lewis and into Secord.

[@Tribuneoftheplebs]

I hope they have lots of busses going from Lewis farms to Secord. Going to be lots of kids trying to get to the rec centre

[@Mohankeneh]

You making a dedicated video on Edmonton public transit has always been a dream of mine , thank you dude ❤️ Great video with a lot of great points but I wanted to point out a few things. 1. There’s already confirmed a south extension to the airport, I’d just like to not have to wait like 25 years until they get around to building it? Haha. 2. Your dream Edmonton rail network is HELLA expensive, don’t think it’ll be that feasible to build, even though it’d be lit. Otherwise we’d need to triple our population to get the tax revenue to build it. 3. The elevated track being terminated at Ellerslie should be a NATIONAL CRIME. How DARE they. I’m still mad that they think they have to do this to save some money. Some things are worth spending an extra 50-100 million on. There’s still time technically to adjust this back but I doubt they’d do anything so yeah, they’ll regret doing this. It’s going to be a Uof A /belgravia situation all over again. Unbelievably terrible traffic because the rail is crossing at grade across an extremely busy intersection. Here’s to hoping the provincial govt offers a bit of extra cash to get it elevated? Or better yet….have it dip underground and come out the other side of the street . Nobody in twin brooks wanted a station there and it’s too close to the century park one. Therefore they should scrap the twin brooks station, have it just go straight from century park to ellerslie, that’d save some money and make the train decently faster too.

[@geoffa3017]

Thank you for covering Edmonton! I really appreciate it.

[@Talkative_Introvert123]

As someone who takes Edmonton transit daily, my issue with it are consistency, especially with the buses, and safety. I know that’s not really your thing but i feel it’s important to point out, especially the consistency part. If my first bus is even two minutes late I usually miss my transfer and have to wait thirty minutes for the next one. This happens so much that I need to plan that possibility into my transit plans.

[@stefanspasojevic9106]

I've been WAITING for this video to see what ideas you had for the system, and I'm glad to see that we are on the same page about a bunch of things. I do have a few ideas/concerns about some plans though. Overall, one of the current issues of the low floor (tram) system is that it does NOT have priority of the signal system when it runs concurrent with the road. IMO one of the first things that needs to change with the system is that it gets remedied first. Currently, in a high traffic scenario (rush hour) , the Metro Line in only a few minutes faster than being in a car. If the City wants to get more people on board, it really needs to give a time incentive to allow this to occur. Given the current issue re: crime and general safety, only being slightly faster than a "safe" car does not warrant many people taking this train currently. @9:26 That extension works great, but it should run on 153 Ave than take the route you chose. It's more linear, and it could help with costs since it could just be a straight connection between the two lines. @13:52 You mention going into Buena Vista Park. That idea is a brilliant one, but FYI a LOT of rich people live within that area (think almost all of the Oilers and even the owner of the team himself). The issue you could run into is simply NIMBYs with a ridiculous amount of pull of the local government, but it is a neat idea. A loop between Jasper Ave (Downtown) and Whyte Ave (think gentrified Kensington Market) is absolutely necessary, and the conversations I've had with City councillors have already hinted that both that would be built, alongside a high speed track (I'll get to that in a second). @11:33 YES! This is so desperately needed. With the current provincial government's decleration of a "Metrolinx" train operator with high speeds (I'll call it Albertalinx for now), I have an interesting idea: Turn Churchill into a MASSIVE hub for the municipal, provincial, and federal rail network. Currently the Churchill station has the Valley Line on the roadways, and underneath it the tunnels for the Capital and Metro Lines. If you could create another level underneath, with longer platforms for the Albertalinx tracks as well rerouting the VIA rail tracks (currently set up near the Yellowhead and CN rail lines, roughly near Blatchford), the amount of traffic and business that could bring the area would be SUBSTANTIAL. You can essentially create an European-style hub and have a truly enjoyable transfer w/o having to venture too far off if need be. Another proposal I bring is the moment you brought up at @13:30, where it comes into contact with the Windemere neighborhood. That area has been primed for some development, and even has great use of mixed development. If you were to create a single line using Ellerslie Road SW and going east to west from this, across the QEII, and connecting at the southern point of the Valley Line West, you can allow individuals to move from the SW to the SE w/o trekking all the way to Downtown. BTW your point about Fort Saskatchewan and St. Albert? Those were in the works but one of the cities didn't want the expansion (my memory says St. Albert, but I could be wrong) and there was a Edmonton Metropolitan Transit Services Commission that wanted to connect all of the cities at one point, but due to financing (an everpresent issue), Edmonton pulled out of the group and the entire commission was disbanded in 2023. Lots of words, but I am truly passionate about seeing my city become one of the best in the world! Love to see what you think!

[@jorjaevans6418]

I spend about 2 hours every day on edmonton transit to get to work and school, and while sometimes It's incredibly disheartening to spend so much of my time commuting, I am always thinking about how lucky I am to live in a place that is prioritizing transit expansion and actively working to build for the future. I've honestly never heard anyone speak so kindly about edmonton, but I completely agree that we have a lot of potential 😄

[@chill_as_fk]

Not going underground at the hospital on 111 ave was idiotic planning & approval.

[@terry9120]

Thanks for the great video - really appreciate your insights and rationale for next steps in our transit system in Edmonton. It's a video I've shared and hope the city takes into consideration in future plans and that we truly be bold.

[@matthewlafrance8817]

Thanks for making this video Reece, nice to see Edmonton getting some love

[@calebk5506]

Edmontonian who just randomly saw this from the KZbin gods but damn that’s the most good things I’ve ever heard about our transit and good lord I’d love to see this

[@Tiger_calw]

IVE BEEN PREACHING THE HIGHWAY BUS ROUTE IDEA FOR YEARS AHHHHH, thankyou random transit youtube man, I feel seen :D

[@premierfong]

Wow thanks for liking Edmonton. I am surprised someone actually like this place.

[@MultiCappie]

I love Edmonton. I moved here from Tokyo in 2008.

[@stickynorth]

Great video. Long overdue. The project missed that would probably do some of the greatest good is closing the downtown subway loop by adding proper stations at MacEwan University and Railtown thereby creating a proper albeit small central circulator. As for the Fort Saskatchewan rural line? It was a commuter rail stop on a line that used to run all the way to Vegreville. It was 73 miles from CN Station and took 90 minutes to complete with stops at Fort Sask, Chipman and Vegreville approximately every 30 minutes/30 miles apart except Fort Sask which is 16 miles from downtown. Trains ran every 30 minutes and it was a popular service for the region until CN dropped all passenger service and VIA failed to run with it. These types of commuter lines should run South as far as Wetaskiwin or Ponoka (75 and 100 km respectively from downtown) and as West as Evansburg/Entwistle at least in the long run. Getting commuters from Parkland, Sturgeon, Leduc and Strathcona County to the U of A or downtown seems like a real challenge now with its mixture of transit offerings that aren't reliable outside a few small windows of time...

[@JackHarms-pf5nv]

I like the ideas he has suggested. The only thing he didn't mention was that I'd love to also see a commuter train out to Spruce Grove/Stony Plain.

[@thegurw1994]

Couple of things. 1. Your branch along 167 Ave should have a spur up to CFB Edmonton along 97 or 82 streets. Thousands of service members and civilian staff commute daily. 2. Spruce Grove and even Stony Plain need connections. They are rapidly becoming the new "forever home" market for families established in their careers looking to upsize the family home, for those in the Edmonton region. 3. Leduc honestly needs a full light rail connection, with a transition station at YEG airport for future high speed connections to Red Deer and Calgary. 4. There needs to be an extension out to Beaumont and another to Devon. These have been sleepy retirement communities for a while but as the aging community passes on, the availability of smaller starter homes at decent price points means many young families are moving to these two suburbs.

[@Droxal]

The current Metro line north of MacEwan station has been a failure. So many at-grade crossings that cause to the train to go at embarrassingly slow speeds. If this were meant to be a tram (like the Valley Line), that would be fine. But it's not a tram. If Edmonton has any budget, they really should consider grade separating that portion before pursuing an extension to St. Albert.

[@jennyniemi2141]

Great video :) I had to abandon public transit for driving in Edmonton because of bus/train network insufficiency which sucked, because it truly has so much potential. We definitely suffer a death by a million cuts when we do go to build. I had to stop doing transit insight surveys a few years ago because I was getting so frustrated with their choices. They opted for street level rather than (predominantly) raised or in-ground because of costs. The signals and bus stop changes on north Metro have been an absolute nightmare for cars, pedestrians, and buses because of poor system integration... it's better and trains now almost go fast (and the arms go down when the train is leaving the station, not leaving 2 stations prior). I can verify the tram envy. Met one of the planners, and the downtown core section is based on the transit in Madrid and Copenhagen. I pointed out that other cities are abandoning trams with more similar climates to ours (Stockholm, and to some extent Helsinki and Oslo) and those cities were relying on underground trains as they don't need to survive the weather. There was supposed to be a line that goes back across high level bridge (with the volunteer run vintage streetcar) but the bridge isn't in good enough repair for that so it was abandoned in favour of an exploration into adding hundreds of tonnes of dirt and trees on top for a walking park...that the bridge can't support (project not happening either). They also opted to not have warning bells, lights or arms along the southern Valley line extension. The lack of physical barriers coupled with it consistently crossing traffic (and people illegally turning LEFT on red, and right on red when marked prohibited) has been a pain. I also feel for people who are HoH or visually impaired as they do not have well marked crossings on the southern end of the valley line. Signaling downtown in the underground is a nightmare and we heard whispers of tunnel capacity when metro opened and capital was axed in frequency (went from 5 minutes to 7 minutes going north from Churchill during peak). On elevated train removals from plans, the Valley like was supposed to be raised at Bonnie Doon Mall but was built level (with several road crossings) and is the source of the majority of train-car accidents. We need Castledowns and Airport connectivity before St Albert/Sherwood Park/Leduc/Fort Sask. Unless we go for a full regional transit system (doing this with arc sort of), the other cities will not pay for extensions into their cities. Leduc has a shuttle to Century Park as it is now. We have a flying junction for buses from South Campus to Fox Road currently. Ellerslie and Castledowns are both massive areas with dense housing and trash access to the trains (and mediocre bus networks right now). We have a growing electric fleet, but I don't know anyone who misses the trolly busses from the late 90s, though I'm sure tech has improved since then. Bonnie Doon to the above ground Health Sciences was supposed to be part of a loop, back over the High Level Bridge, see above). The city has a lot of push back over any development in the river valley, and I honestly don't think I'll live to see another bridge cross the river at Buena Vista, given an ecological reserve and fairly popular bike trails in the area. Strongly agree with the bus lanes on the highways (especially the Henday). Stadium is so much safer the way it is now, even though the level access is a very annoying walk from bus stops compared to going down stairs and up stairs quickly. The elevator rarely worked (or was hotboxed) and the escalator was down for over 2 years following a flood. It is so much more accessible now. I'm not the biggest fan of the planning in the city, but we have so much potential it just hurts more when they make mediocre choices.

[@Petelecaster]

I like the idea of putting transit on the highway to get across the city. One thing missing in this video is this: My problem with Transit has usually been that the first 25% of the trip takes 75% of the total trip time. We need more quick buses that go back and forth on the major streets and avenues instead of backtracking or meandering for hours through neighbourhoods. I live close (10 minute walk from Transit centre) and it takes me an hour to get to anywhere within 10km radius) My ideal transit would take me (example) WEST to X Street where I can transfer off to get taken SOUTH to Y Avenue, a 5 min walk away from my destination. What is embarassing is that most of the time, I can bike somewhere faster than taking transit and the cost of driving is far cheaper than a bus ride.

[@brianswille]

Great video. You captured lots of important routes and ideas. I think one major route extemsion that was not discussed to neighbouring areas, would be to extend the Valley Line West to Spruce Grove and Stony Plain. Much of that significant traffic load goes straight to downtown and out every day. If it stopped in the Acheson Industrial Park en route this would be a huuuuugely helpful line.

[@langgp]

For the last going onto 3 months there are Peace Officers frequenting the LRT trains now. Love the app by ets it helps to check how long I will have to wait for the Bus or LRT. No stress,eave the driving to the drivers.

[@SmthPositive_]

Love these kinds of videos Reece!

[@Passque666]

Finally giving Edmonton some attention.

[@opinionaytedonhockey]

As a student in Edmonton, I actually benefit greatly from this system. I can get almost anywhere I need in the city within an hour, southside in two, and I hope that can only improve.

[@joermnyc]

The VIA rail station out in the middle of nowhere would greatly benefit from a connection to mass transit.

Same with Ottawa! No clue why the VIA station moved from a strategic downtown location to middle of no where in between the airport and downtown

[@BlazingImp77151]

What is with VIA stations and being in the middle of nowhere. The one near me is far from the main parts of town, and now I hear edmonton and ottawa have the same issue? I wonder why

[@stefannakonechny2004]

Why Edmonton’s VIA stations is so out of the way is based on the movement of the rail lines. When Edmonton was initially being expanded trains ran across the High Level Bridge into a rail yard currently where MacEwan university is (that’s why the university is so long). This yard was moved north of the Yellowhead so the station moved with it.

[@stickynorth]

@@stefannakonechny2004 Bingo. It is what is is being located on what's left of the CN rail loop that used to connect NW to NE via downtown... To some degree this should be revived for commuter rail service if you ask me...

[@Rick-C-117]

Let’s spend lots of money to favour the 200 people who take VIA every year. Keep wasting billions.

[@Ded5833]

Edmonton has a lot of potential. It's unfortunate that the province has set all municipalities in the province on the road for budgetary shortfalls and failure. A healthy relationship between the two groups would be ideal, but the province is outright antagonistic and is practicing austerity when it isn't necessary. Edmonton, Calgary and every municipality needs funding which the province has almost completely withdrawn.

[@beyondtheshore3774]

Smith is too busy partying with right wing grifters in the us. At the very very least they're using the surplus to pay off debt and go into the heritage fun rather than just burning it....

[@cookiedawg6977]

@@Ded5833 for real. I’m from Ontario but my girlfriend is Albertan so we often discuss moving to Edmonton after she finishes school. I think Edmonton has so much potential and will be a great city in a few years, but right now the UCP scare me too much. Here’s hoping Rishi can take her out when the time comes.

[@bc5cd]

THe budgetary problems come from municipal spending and wastage NOT from the rest of the province. The rest of us subsidize the decisions of urbanite bug-people in the bloated city bureaucracies. If you cannot fund your city with a 1MM population base then the people and elites of your city are irresponsible and stupid.

[@dabomb199715]

@@cookiedawg6977scared? 🤣😂😂 what scares you so much about the UCP? Economic prosperity?

[@cookiedawg6977]

@@dabomb199715 Lots of things. I’m afraid about their extreme governmental overreach into municipal and social affairs, despite their “conservative”, small-government image. I’m afraid of their defunding of social programs, letting them crumble even though there is a surplus in the budget. Im afraid of their mismanagement of money with all the pointless and expensive fights they pick with the Feds. I’m afraid of their environmental irresponsibility. I’m afraid of them doubling down on refusing to diversify Alberta’s economy away from O&G. I’m afraid of their anti-intellectualism, corruption, and partisanship. Frankly, I just don’t like how they focus voter’s attention on trivial issues and try to blame Ottawa for all of Alberta’s problems. What economic prosperity are you talking about exactly?

[@GreenHornet553]

Awesome video Reece. I'm sort of surprised that a city of Edmonton's size doesn't have a more fleshed out public transit network yet, but the ideas you proposed to expand their network seem neat. Love your stuff and will try to watch more soon.

[@phillipsiebold8351]

So there is going to have to be some clarification of some important issues: 1) Refinery Row has to be separate from the City Of Edmonton and the City cannot dip its fingers into Refinery Row. This has been the biggest barrier to creating a regional governance system like a regional transit network. I strongly suspect that it is the province that steps in and provides a rail system between Edmonton's suburban cities and Edmonton itself. And if the province is going to do that, it will probably utilise the TUC that is Anthony Henday to facilitate that. 2) The station redesign at Stadium might make it look more dangerous when it comes to interaction between different forms of transportation, but to me the largest thing it seemed to be designed around was getting rid of the pedestrian underpass where a good number of assaults and murders were happening. Should the underpass have been replaced by an overpass? Maybe. But I think the criminal element was the biggest deciding factor. 3) The Urban LRT thing was Stephen Mandel's child. Basically a way of justifying the expansion of the LRT while avoiding the disturbance of residents in Parkview, Laurier Heights and Crestwood. It's why the Low Floor LRT was selected. I agree it is high time to move away from the concept or at least, maintain those elements for the Low Floor LRT and keep the original design considerations for the High Floor LRT. 4) Speaking of the Low Floor LRT, I think it is hopeless to rely on it for connecting high traffic areas. It's slow, but more navigable on Edmonton's surface streets. It should be the system to provide inner city circulation. I like the idea of building the Downtown circulator, and if it is built in conjunction with the Alberta rail network, can hop on the replacement of the High Level Bridge. My other weird idea is to have the High Floor LRT ring around the inner ring road (Whitemud, 170th Street, Yellowhead (or 137h Avenue), 50th street) so as to give WEM a High Floor LRT station, and provide more intense service. I have noticed the ridership on the Route 55 has been skyrocketing, ever since it simplified the old 33 route with its milk run in Brander Gardens removed. They've been constantly adding buses on Route 55, so it is something to consider in future plans.

[@Jay-jq6bl]

I'd like to see the hill under Saskatchewan Drive redeveloped. I saw one idea to turn the top deck of the High Level bridge into a park akin to the Highline, which I think could be really awesome, especially if it ties into a pedestrian terrace on the south end and connects parks on the north.

[@stickynorth]

@@Jay-jq6bl The Top Deck would be cool as a park however it would be better as an active train deck with HSR and 2 LRT/tram lines on top which is one of the current proposals the city is still studying for the upcoming redux of the bridge.. Other options including Twinning the HLB (also planned since the 1950's) or a tear down and new bridge on its site with traffic being rerouted to Walterdale in the meantime since the far West walkway is actually designed as a 4th traffic lane should the need arise... In this case to make it temporary a two-way bridge with 2 lanes in each direction which would be enough capacity in the meantime for the OG HLB to be dealt with one way or another...

[@mikestoast]

There is not going to be a replacement of the high level. It is going to be refurbished. There is no place else to put a bridge in that section of the city. No more high floor or at grade lines. Get it underground or dont even bother doing it. High grade just means less stations and more eyesores. WEM should have 3 stations at it, and where they are running the line it should be underground with the east station that also services the hospital being a node that is part of the western section of the third inside the Henry ring LRT.

[@mikestoast]

@@stickynorth The area and infrastructure leading to it is no way feasible for HSR. The current tram line is a perfect use for the top deck. It could continue to run in conjunction with a park, however they already have issue with people jumping and a top deck park would have to put up high barriers. Living in the area and seeing the proposals, nothing is great. the only good thing would be to see the street car line be extended north up to grant mac, lifting that strange dip in jasper up to grade and running the street car under a small bridge. Stop trying to tear everything down and remove the few unique and character things this city has.

[@phillipsiebold8351]

@@mikestoast As the bridge is more than 100 years old, the ability to refurbish the bridge is going to be limited as critical components of the bridge get weaker with age.

[@paulmiller591]

Great video, Reece, with some smart advice for Edmonton. I hate it when city transit planners push slow tram services for mass transit, undermining modal shifts because of the poor travel times.

[@RMTransit]

Its all about the aesthetics, which are rightly something we should think about, but its cart before horse if it undermines the publics support for PT

[@taytertottt]

I’ve lived in the greater Edmonton area my entire life but only just started using ETS. You made so many amazing suggestions. I hope that someone has sent this to the City of Edmonton. 😂

[@tejistar4017]

Great video! I hope Edmonton uses some of these amazing ideas! One thing that id like is a bus from spruce grove to st albert. Right now that takes 2 hours to do(bus to Edmonton then transfer to a st albert train) when really it should take 20 minutes 🥲

[@NorrthStar]

I just moved to Edmonton two days ago !

[@Hopscotchlemonadespritz]

It's an interesting time to be here! I grew up in Edmonton but "escaped" for a 4-yr span to Vancouver, ending roughly with the 2010 Olympics. Both cities continue to grow and provided you've been able to secure affordable housing, Edmonton is *finally* beginning to exhibit some of the big-city feel that allowed me to fall in love instantly with Vancouver and several other places I've visited since. A more comprehensive rail network I consider to be central to that feel.

[@a.v.2491]

Welcome!

[@TheDEM1995]

Make sure you have a nice winter coat (don't cheap out, it will be your best friend!). I moved here 5 years ago; I'm pretty happy with it. There's a big rollout of bike infrastructure underway rn. Hit up Farrow's if you want some relatively cheap-but-good sandwiches!

[@MultiCappie]

Your timing is good. Edmonton was awful until about 18 years ago, and has been steadily improving ever since.

[@unspokenscares]

As someone whos in edmonton, welcome!

[@Senvae]

As someone who lived in Montreal for a few years, and is now living in Edmonton since 2007, I can vouch for the advantage of underground systems versus above ground like Edmonton. It also slows down vehicle traffic, and is prone to further slow downs thanks to idiot drivers who do not know how to be safe around tracks. I was an ETS driver for 6 years and got to drive the LRT for a couple of minutes in the train yard, it was an interesting experience. I also worked for CN as a conductor (before the mass layoffs due to oil prices in 2015), and I am shocked to hear they are going to put the LRT down there. Hopefully that elevated bridge is going to be built smart. There are a lot of derailments that CN doesn't tell anyone about because it's just in the yard, or out of sight. Now the whole city is going to get a bird's eye view of those messes.

[@jj22ftw]

as a 20 y/o edmontonion (who cant drive cuz my anxiety is horrendous & im just bad lol) i hope the transit can be good, because finding work in my area is impossible so being able to travel across the city to wem quickly would be awesome for me and neat video!

[@anathaetownsend1894]

Unfortunately, there would be major pushback from Sherwood Park with respect to pushing an LRT out to it. I am aware of Sherwood Park residents that refer to the LRT as "mobile homeless shelter".

[@Chakolit]

I happen to know a bunch about the transit system in Edmonton because of my job. So here is some extra info that may be relevant. - The main move towards more stations at grade and things such as the change in platform access at stadium station is at least accessibility driven. Elevators seem to break down frequently and/or end up being really horrible as you sometimes get homeless people peeing or pooping in them (its a problem). Which then leads to accessibility issues for those who need the elevators. - I personally love the LRT and want more expansion as well but many people are currently distrustful of it since the Metro line had many issues when it first opened with the signal timing and the newer south valley line was supposed to open YEARS before it actually did. Also many people hate the construction going on around West Edmonton Mall. - The City just did an entire network rework a few years ago so they are unlikely to start making more super major changes to the overall bus system other than modifying existing routes slightly and maybe adding a route here or there. - The Anthony Henday is technically owned and managed by the province so adding bus lanes alongside that would pose a challenge with management. - There was a plan to connect all the transit systems together of the greater Edmonton area but that ended up mostly falling apart so the main that that does connect those systems together is the ARC card system which can be used for payment on all of the transit systems in the area. - The on-demand buses were also not mentioned which was put in place to service communities with lower demand where having a full route through the community didn't make sense. It allows for rides to be booked on separate on demand busses which will take people from the special on demand stops in their communities to close by major transit hubs and then from the transit hubs to a specific on demand stop. The on demand system also services many seniors residences throughout the city as well. This is just what I can think of off the top of my head but I hope its informative.

[@alchemical29]

As a resident of Leduc, I love the idea of expanding the LRT here and I've been saying so for years. I commute to the university every day, and to Sherwood Park twice a week, and it costs an insane amount of money on gas to do that, on top of the fact that Edmonton has some of the worst drivers I've ever seen, and I hate having to drive. I wish so badly I was just able to take the train.

[@edy21865]

I’ve just noticed, Vancouver’s New Flyer Xcelsior buses look so much better than any other North American city’s bus of the same model because of how Translink has styled the window frames. They no longer have the visible rounded edge window frames. Instead they are European style seamless windows making the same Xcelsior buses look that much more futuristic. Just take a comparison between the New Flyer XDE60 buses Seattle ordered in 2019 and the ones Vancouver ordered in 2019, shown in this video as the RapidBus. Besides the paint scheme being different, Vancouver’s just looks so much sleeker due to the seamless windows while Seattle’s just looks like a remodel of the D60LF New Flyer diesel from the early 2000s.

[@DwainRichardson]

I was waiting for Reece to mention the return of trolleybuses in this video-and he did! 👍Why Edmonton ditched trolleybuses to begin with totally baffles me. I’m not at all familiar with Edmonton’s geography, but I could see trolleybuses operating in the downtown core (especially in heavily touristic areas) and heading to some of the suburbs. In any event, it would be great to see trolleybuses operating east of Vancouver. And who knows? Perhaps trolleybuses will make a comeback in other Canadian cities. Those would be a sight to behold! (-:

[@tianchenxiong6223]

Being in Edmonton for 10 years. still surprised that the main traffic attraction such as Airport and West Edmonton Mall are not connected by the train still surprised me. Glad to see the city is putting more effort in to transit development within the recent year though.

[@maitrilazaroff138]

I'd love to see a video like this for Denver! We have a very similar city, that is growing fast, and one of the largest of the region.

[@maitrilazaroff138]

We've also been looking at a lot of BRT expansion, with routes on Colfax and Colorado Avenues, as well as Federal Boulevard planned to be opened by 2030 and even more in the future.

[@Progamerr_06]

Please do more crayoning with Reece maybe with calgary or Montreal or Halifax

[@RMTransit]

I don't think I will do Calgary. Halifax could be interesting!

[@Progamerr_06]

@@RMTransit I'm happy you might do Halifax:)

[@kevintran3364]

@@RMTransit damn i was hoping you’d do Calgary, it’s only fair 🤷

[@stickynorth]

@@RMTransit You kinda have to now, lol.. If not you'll never hear the end of the Calgary "but...but.. you did Edmonton crowd"... That's literally the dynamics of everything in Alberta sadly enough... From hospitals (Calgary got a new one, Edmonton's was cancelled and Red Deer is getting one as a a voter bribe essentially) to transit funding... Although "To Be Fair" Calgary doesn't needly nearly a much transit planning suggestive help as others since they tended to have created a giant unitary transit plan and stuck to it over time with little change... Unlike Edmonton which can't even decided which projects to advance at any given time... I.e. Gorman was supposed to be built by 2007 or 2008 and here we are... Or the added $210M price tag to the SLRT extension even with value engineering... Agreed on Halifax though... They have a loop around the peninsula that is grade separated and would made a great reuse transit corridor along with a revival of the streetcar network...

[@IndustrialParrot2816]

Halifax needs Light Rail and more Density

[@gocanadayayyy]

I'm a UAlberta Alum, and I lived there for a year in McKernan/Belgravia after graduation. I wish so fucking badly they'd kept that underground system below university drive, because trying to get out of belgravia at all between 3-6PM was a fucking nightmare. There's only two ways out of that neighbourhood: onto university drive, in which case you'll be waiting forever to turn left out of the neighbourhood at that time because of the traffic, or be waiting forever to turn right. It was also a pain to come home via any route, including groat road, which I often did at the time since I worked at the science centre. The only other way out was 76ave onto 111th street and... that wasn't any better. Why? because the train was above ground south of the university. If it had remained underground until the mckernan/belgravia stop, the already insane intersection of university drive and 111th street would move much faster, and only the 76ave one would be a pain. I also got stopped on the north side by the train line that ran to NAIT once... we were at that light for 15 fucking minutes. why not put that underground, seriously? There's already an underground station on the UAlberta campus and it works fine. That being said, I did take a lot of transit when I was in undergrad despite living close to campus, and I did have a fairly good time with it. The improvements you suggested here would have made a world of difference. I paid to park my car near my building for about one semester before I drove it home at christmas and left it there, but I wouldn't have even considered bringing it at all if even half of these rail connections had existed.

[@CamoFFAArmy]

Now hopefully our mayor sees this video 😅 Such a great video and it was great to see the endless possibilities that we could/should see in our future

[@Nephanor]

As someone who lives in Sherwood Park, I am glad you thought of us. We need more connectivity than busses.

[@gravity3.8]

Very informative video, it makes me appreciate of our transit more

[@corkhead0]

A couple comments: 1. The long term future for the valley line south is likely going to be turning south after the mill woods stop down 50st towards Beaumount (you've got it on 66st on your map). There's already zoning in place for a transit center on the south east corner of 50st and ellerslie road. No funding or design work done on that yet though. 2. The hospital in the south west is not currently under construction, it's been mothballed by our massively incompetent provincial government. Great video!

[@Ra0s]

As an Edmontonian with a lot of experience and opinions on our transit, I completely agree with almost every word of this video!

[@PyroAxolotlDragon]

You would not believe how congested Century Park stairs and escalators get whenever a train comes to the station, I definitely would vouch for a general increase in capacity for stations to be able to handle more people faster

[@TrickiVicBB71]

I haven't ridden it since attending NAIT in 2013. But I still remember the stairs, pedway, trains and buses being packed before and after school hours

[@shoeboogler]

The design for this station is insane, two staircases + one elevator up from the train platform and then a single staircase back down to the bus station is a completely baffling bottlenecking decision. Century Park is begging for a redesign, especially with the southern expansion.

[@TrickiVicBB71]

@shoeboogler They should elevate the whole track when they first built. But nope, too expensive, go with the cheap option and lay it on the street. Piss off every driver cause they have to wait 10-15 minutes to cross the track. Don't forget all the signalling and lighting issues that happen sometimes.

[@shoeboogler]

@@TrickiVicBB71 For sure, 111th is kind of a nightmare corridor because of the grade crossings during rush hour. Definitely wish it was elevated. But I think a better station layout is about all we will get at this point.

[@highway2heaven91]

@@TrickiVicBB71I assumed that they would do this. Was pretty shocked when they decided not to.

[@quadrocaterpus7865]

Hi just FYI, the Valley Line extension does not go down 66st, it will continue along 28th ave and then turn onto 50st to stop at Charlesworth

[@heymannyg]

The problem people in Edmonton are having right now with is trusting that future LRT projects will be done on time and on budget. Metro Line had so many signaling issues, Valley Line was 3 years late in delivery, and most recently there is a cost overrun of $240 million in expanding the Capital Line southward. The city, Edmonton Transit, and the project managers need to keep these projects on track (pun not intended), otherwise the current generation of taxpayers will no longer support LRT and general transit expansion, and transit improvements will be stalled for decades.

[@mikestoast]

Big problem is trusting it to private contractors. the city has been large enough for decades that they should have their own city owned construction company, not unlike any of the other city owned business like Epcor.

[@MichaelSmith-wy2is]

It's a bit chicken and egg. It happens because the city and contractors lacked experience, but if the funding doesn't continue they will lose experience.

[@babylonmustfall]

Most of the planners, developers, and constructors of the lines will rarely, if ever, use that transport mode. They make money for those projects. They get mass population off the roads so they can drive to and from work with less traffic.

[@Neila078]

That orange line you linked bonnie doon along 82nd to HS to buena vista, i dont know if youre from edmonton or know lots about my city, but fun fact, there is a place called "end of the world" that is essentially the abandoned highway project from decades ago that would connect almost like youve drawn, theyve since safety-fied the area and made the teenage hang spot into a scenic outlook (for better or for worse depending on who you ask). I just thought it was very funny that theres already the ghosts of a similar plan sitting right where you pointed :)

[@JesusChrist-qs8sx]

One small note on the rural LRT in St. Louis: a huge part of that is because a lot of the growth in the region has favored the Missouri side, largely for tax reasons, and the main urbanized area on the Illinois side (East St. Louis) got urban renewaled hard so there hasn't been as much suburban growth on that side. Growth on the Illinois side is just so much slower, and tends to favor growth outward from Edwardsville/Collinsville over East St. Louis

[@frontrowviews]

I love these style of videos. Could you maybe look into making one of these about Eindhoven, the Netherlands? It is a rapidly growing technology hub but only has 2 train stations for commuter rail, and a very overcrowded bus system.

[@ClintonK888]

Bravo! This is a really well-done presentation of what Edmonton transit could be, as such I have forwarded this to Minister Pete Guthrie and Premier Danielle Smith for consideration.

[@POVwithRC]

No matter how advanced and utopian ETS gets, I'll always reach for the keys to a private car. (as do most operators, which is why every transit garage has huge parkades, and very few of them use the service they drive for.) Here's why: I can: Go anywhere I want at any time of day or night. I can choose any mix of destinations I want, or change them on a whim. Several times a trip if I really want! I can do this without relying on a schedule made to fit the middle of the needs curve but not my particular situation. I can take as many or as few people as I want along. And none of them will consume substances in front of me. I can pick my music or ride in silence. I do not have to step over bodily fluids,or smell them, or see them being produced. Post-pandemic, I also get to commute while not getting sick. And avoid getting others sick. I do not have to wait for fifteen minutes in the rain while someone uses the bus shelter as a home. I do not have to endure violence, threats, and all kinds of bad mojo. I think that anyone who wants to take any of that away while promising that transit will be good some day if we just all believe is my enemy. It's especially worrisome when council wants 50 percent of trips Edmontonians make to be Transit, but they have no answers about how to make that happen except making car ownership hard. It's highly inappropriate for the managerial class to take away or punitively attack individual freedom of mobility. And if you believe that that is the right thing to do, then you might be an enemy too 😊 I also want to add, that everything proposed here just feels like an expansion of a Rapid Crime Delivery System.

[@chicho5121]

I feel like Edmonton's transit looks good on paper sometimes due to the amount of traffic in the roads, transit can beat cars in busiest hours which also shows that there was a planning problem in terms of the road system. Either way, as some people have said in the comments, the biggest problem is execution of these expansion projects where a lot of details which cause delays are missed.

[@ANONAAAAAAAAA]

LRT is basically poor man's metro, you can get 70% of goodies metro has while spending one-third.

[@Rick-C-117]

And slower than the bus routes they replaced

[@thestarlightalchemist7333]

​@@Rick-C-117for the Valley line? Maybe, but not the Capital and Metro lines. I've been a semi-regular user of Edmonton's transit for around a year now, and only the Valley line has been rivalled by buses in terms of travel time.

[@MarloSoBalJr]

Baltimore Red Line, but tbh, at this point, I just want the damn thing built so we can stop talking about it

[@AmokCanuck]

Unfortunately it just can't scale like metro, in 20 years they'll very much regret not doing a system like the SkyTrain.

[@stickynorth]

@@AmokCanuck Valley Line? Yes.. It's a niche P3 project that is doomed to fail by its design... The existing German-style high-floor PRE-METRO? Nope, that's solid... They just need to get the speeds back up on certain sections and add in a few new infill stations along the existing ROW... McCauley @ 95, Future Station under the Brownlee/former Remand centre would make a great downtown Central Station with pedway access to Churchill and beyond.. It's also where Stelmach proposed to build an HSR station back in 2006-2009... Attached to the back to the RAM over the Living Bridge on 97th...

[@orionstransit]

imo, the Edmonton LRT should turn more into a suburban rail than a metro. ofc, the central core *should* have metro-style service, but i think that treating the suburban sections like suburban rail rather than metro might be a good idea. i think you were kinda already suggesting it, but i would add a few things to make it more like suburban rail: -*express trains.* while the LRT *should* be upgraded to speeds of up to 100-110kmh, i think even then, with tons of stations, it might not even be enough. this is where express trains come in! for this style of EMU-metro type service, i would recommend "splitting" each line into sections: areas where inner locals run, and expresses run express, and areas where long distance express run, and locals turn back. at the local turnback stations, you should have timed, cross-platform transfers (we love those!) between local and express trains, similar to a 4-track Keio line station in Tokyo! There should also be at least 1 or 2 extra timed cross-platform stations along the "inner local" sections of the network, allowing fast and convenient trips between all areas of the network! And the truth is, adding the collective of a few dozen km *AT MOST* of track for these 4-track, Japanese style overtake stations, should not be expensive at all. These express trains should ofc have standing room, but I think on longer journeys, having 65%+ seated is a good idea. I was testing out this seating arrangement: transverse seats in rows of 3, plus bench seating on the other side. this basically gives you close to the amount of seats found with 3 by 2 seating, found on mainline trains (and ironically, a few metros), in the space of a narrow coach that can "only" fit 2-2 transverse seating. you also have space for one row between the seats, areas by the doors and space in between the seats, for standees! In theory, this is a good way to balance seating, but i am not quite sure the comfort levels of 3-row seating on these types of trains. anyways, suburban rail style express service would be a big W for the Edmonton LRT! even with express service, i think that all services, local *and* express, should run *no less* than every 12 mins, but ideally every 10 mins. frequency is always key on all services! -*more mainline rail type ROW:* i also think you were suggesting this, but while grade separation on the areas with more than 24tph (12 local and 12 express) should *defiantly* be done, i think that grade crossings are perfectly okay! as long as the gates are down for half the time they are up, its basically like having another road intersection. that said, these grade crossings *need* to be mainline rail style: no crossings in the medians of roads or any of that. *all* of those tram-style crossings should be replaced with full grade separation in those areas, on elevated viaducts. *but*, the crossings on the northern part of the capitol line are the perfect design for the other crossings: full train priority and no intersections directly after the crossing to cause congestion. also, you mentioned that tram-style operation in the boonies might be okay, but i would go further and treat it like a mainline train and do a Portland WES-style median running mainline tracks, with somewhat high speeds (around 65kmh). basically, i think Edmonton should think: "if this was a mainline suburban train, how would we design it?" and use those designs to work around the current LRT they have. -*incentive for standard mainline suburban and regional rail* i think that Edmonton should have a few regional rail lines, that extend the LRT-turned-suburban-rail into the deep suburbs even more! building mainline-style infra for the LRT system could be translated to a standard suburban/regional railway for Edmonton! I dont think that ETS even needs to run the service: VIA rail should run it! I think we should normalize intercity railroads operating SBahns and regional trains, which is, guess what.....WHAT THEY DO IN EUROPE! Amtrak already does this around Chicago and a few of their state corridor routes, so the idea isn't unheard of here in NA. I don't think it would hurt VIA rail to get into the regional/suburban/commuter markets in the big cities, similar to DB in Germany! (im going to geek out on rolling stock for a little bit, but for these type of operations, i would recommend CEM bilevels + modern electric locomotives for regional express services, and, specifically, the 3.2 meter wide nordic model of the stadler FLIRT, for the all-stop regional sprinters. i would also design a few loco+coach sets that can run on EMU schedules, that have 100% EMU performance, just to test out tech that makes loco+coaches as high performance as EMUs! ofc, these loco+coach sets would never replace EMUs, ideally they would run side-by-side! ) sorry for geeking out a bit there, lol. but in conclusion, i think treating the ETS light rail like proper suburban rail, and less like metro, is the right approach, and I think you were already kinda saying that!

[@stefanspasojevic9106]

This is honestly fantastic, I was working on Express/Inter-City designs myself connecting from all the cities as best as I could. I love the passion!

[@RMTransit]

I don't disagree that it should be suburban rail esque - most suburban metros are!

[@orionstransit]

yup, BART, WMATA, and MARTA have done a great job with their suburban metros, a good model to copy

[@christinecamley]

Superb info and opinions Reese! I am about to visit family in Edmonton and St. Albert - St. Albert - a residential bedroom community next to Edmonton - only has buses. I wonder if the affluence means many people drive. My family is in St. Albert and when I visit no one is ever on the buses! My niece said with weather and average household income most young people have a car as well. AB is conservative and I find fewer people interested in green/alternative transit. Insightful video! Thank you!! 🙂

[@TheDEM1995]

Edmonton is very good about bike lanes- current council is fairly urbanist in that and a few other regards! When I moved here in 2019 the situation was way worse than it is now. Edmonton is also more mixed politically than you might expect. As far as partisanship, Edmonton-Strathcona has the only NDP MP in AB, but pretty much every MLA in the city is NDP (our national and provincial interests are not super aligned).

[@christinecamley]

@@TheDEM1995 Hey I appreciate this a lot! I am pretty familiar with the city as a lot of family live there and in Calgary, Drumheller and Smoky Lake! Happy to hear of the bike lanes! I have been on the LRT and enjoyed it - took it from visiting a family member at the Royal Alex to her home Downtown to get her some stuff. I'd like to ride it a lot more! Love the federal NDP MP! It looks like Naheed Nenshi (who I like a lot!! - met him in YYC!!) will detach the provincial NDP from the federal party. Very interesting! Thanks so much!! 🙂

[@tonybezanson9625]

If you want to improve a transit system, take a look at Halifax, Nova Scotia

[@JosephLopez-dd1rl]

This is a brilliant format of video. Would love to see more "Transit Makeover" videos for various North American cities. My local region, the southern Rockies going down to Mexico could use this foresight.

[@klingoncowboy4]

I would argue that we need to extend the valley line west all the way to Spruce Grove as well. Ofc all these exterior connections would require ETS to accept that non residents need access...

[@petern6808]

Thanks for this amazing look into the future. We just need a provincial partner that is willing to come to the table!

[@literallycanadian]

Its certainly interesting to see your thoughts. As a person that has riden ETS lots, I certainly agree with many of your points. your orange low floor line then you drew from bonnie doon west was actually originally proposed. There is an old 2017 graphic that had a proposed energy line that would branch off the valley line from bonnie doon, run straight to health sciences for a much nicer UofA connection for the SE side of town, but they had proposed to follow the capital line north across the river to rejoin the valley line and continue west instead of going straight west. There was also the planned festival line, but it makes even less sense to me, which basically does the same thing as the energy line, but continues through downtown, follows the festival line south looping down through the UofA, before heading east to the end of the valley line. Interestingly the metro line actually used to continue all the way to century park, and it was only late 2020 that they cut it off at health sciences using one of their little side bays that are throughout the system to turn the train around. ETS does have a fair few of these little things around if you look for them as contingency. They love to be able to choose whatever random train they need to and just park it out of the way if they have to temporarily cut out a section of the line during an incident. The advanced signalling thing was a great thought, but yeah it failed completely, so many delays as a result of it and man was everyone happy when they just gave up. It would be great to see the train extended down to the airport. Its funny to think of how terrible the bus service really is to the airport with the 1 or 2, always packed, infrequent buses that they run there. Ironically Leduc almost has better service to the airport and thats a city a fraction of the size and has little need for good service to the airport. I think the trick is you almost need to bring it down the other side of the highway so it could service the Nisku industrial park which is currently handled by Leduc transit. While its certainly not the same amount of traffic as 747 sees, there is certainly interest from workers in Nisku for transit as it makes up a signficant amount of the ridership of Leduc's route between Edmonton and Leduc.

[@bradhouse147]

@rmtransit I believe the St. Albert-Sherwood Park (technically Strathcona County, SP Is literally just a nickname) line(s) were planned under the "Energy Line, Festival Line" names. Both were killed off when the respective cities/hamlets didn't want to pay their portion.

[@TonyVRailfanning]

Being a lifetime Edmontonian I’ve watched and ridden every train they have had since 1977 and will certainly miss the U2s as they will be replaced in the next 5 or so years. They system too, forever to expand and I belive that really hurt the development. There was little forward thinking other than the tunnels under downtown. I agree the airport should now be a high priority to get too.

[@i3p973]

Great video! Just want to add that they have thought of eventually connecting the valley line east to Sherwood Park.

[@highway2heaven91]

I think it’s called the Festival or Energy line.

[@kjrose]

Connecting acheson/spruce grove/parkland county would be huge. Highway 16A and 16 are already insanely congested at rush hour and spruce being a bedroom community would increase demand dramatixally

[@dorkichiban]

for the connection to sherwood park i feel like it would be nice if it went down 118 ave instead of along the yellowhead. 118 ave is prioritized for cars currently, but it runs parallel to the newly upgraded yellowhead, so there's really no need for that. 118 has a lot of destinations, as well as a lot of housing; so giving the area good transit access would be great. whereas the yellowhead is pretty out of the way.

[@HarrisonMoore-p2z]

Great video Reece! Thanks for shining a light on our city! It would be amazing if we ended up with something anywhere close to this. 😅

[@Sacto1654]

Speaking of Edmonton, I still wonder are there still plans for a dedicated high-speed line between Edmonton and Calgary? They could use 200 km/h Stadler KISS train sets for a one way trip of just under 90 minutes.

[@yaygya]

I think that’s in Alberta’s rail network plan that was unveiled recently.

[@stickynorth]

Two different projects are kind of promoted so far Ellis Don's P3 concept Prairie Link which would operate in a new dedicated HSR corridor at 400 km/h. Current price tag if $9.8B, the other is a regional/commuter rail line using the existing CP ROW and probably infrastructure to some degree... No speed or price tag on that however 200 km/h service is possible on MOST of the line if they upgraded the crossings and put up fencing as per the 2004 Van Horne train study. It called for 200-240 km/h service along the line with closing and upgrading of crossings along the way...

[@Sacto1654]

@@stickynorth I'll take the latter solution with the modified CPKC right of way. Using an almost stock Stadler KISS train set, 200-220 km/h max between Edmonton and Calgary is definitely possible.

[@mikestoast]

"plans" is better for it, They have been around for 40 years, and comes up every so often but nothing is ever going to happen with it, unless we get a radical shift in gov. Even where the NDP are now centre/centre-right, they will not touch it. The politics of this province are too reactionary and there has not been any long term planning for near 50 years.

[@babylonmustfall]

If there is no east/west high speed line across Canada, not much sense in having an Edmonton/Calgary line. Just a PR stunt by the provinical gov't.

[@JasonXYT]

Give Calgary a makeover too!

[@chrisvazquez7]

I’m surprised you didn’t mention any sort of heavy rail network. The Edmonton metro region has many significant exurban communities such as Spruce Grove, St. Albert, Fort Saskatchewan, Sherwood Park, and Leduc. These should have fast and reliable regional rail connections into the centre of Edmonton where people can then transfer to other modes of transit. Love your video!

[@RMTransit]

The issue is I can’t imagine those lines getting into central Edmonton for low prices, so without a fix I’m not sure how that’s going to work

[@christopherspencer8110]

@@RMTransitWith a new bridge (albeit a big bridge) and using existing low-use rail corridors, trains could originate in the western part of St. Albert, cross the Sturgeon River and pass City Hall, continue to the CN rail yard (which would have to be jumped, the expensive part of the project), cross one of the existing rail bridges over the Yellowhead (used by weekly passenger trains), and follow the wide abandoned rail corridor (keeping the bike trail and green space intact ) to 121st Street and 104th Avenue, the western edge of the downtown core and the site of the new Brewery District Station on the Valley Line. Use equipment similar to that on the original Ottawa O-Line, and you have a direct connection between the centre of the two cities with a journey time of 15 minutes.

[@Jay-jq6bl]

@@RMTransit All the suburbs he mentioned could be served with not too much extra construction along the CN alignment that runs parallel to Yellowhead Trail. Leduc would only be one station past the airport, and downtown to YEG has already been prioritized. If the downtown line runs through to Yellowhead trail, it could tie in all the suburbs together. Even Gibbons, Devon, and Beaumont could be reached easily enough. I really wish they could just cap Yellowhead where the bridge will cross. That could make a nice regional station, if CN could be convinced to move.

[@Jay-jq6bl]

@@christopherspencer8110 Alberta is working to create a regional rail service and they're going to have to figure a way to get regional service up to Grande Prairie at some point. I'm guessing they'll just try to straighten the existing alignment west of St Albert, so that would suggest they'll have regional service running between St Albert and the lake. From there following the existing alignment past the cement plant to the alignment that runs along Yellowhead trail. I'm expecting a tunnel through downtown will run along 97st or so for regional service.

[@highway2heaven91]

Their original plan for the exurbs was BRT lines. As far as I know, commuter rail was never considered. Commuter rail is a much better idea though imo.

[@lost-prototype]

Do Winnipeg. And you better suggest rail!! 😉

[@dude-pt4gz]

edmonton needs to build a bus line that connects the smaller towns in the region like.morinville,bon accord.gibbons

[@Anggea]

The lines that run by the major hospitals in the city block off street access and thus emergency service vehicles (RAH, UAH & the Grey Nuns) the MIs on the west end will be the only one that isn’t blocked off because they’ve raised the line to access the mall. 7 years ago I wanted to try to cut down on my costs and take transit to work - I was doing west to south trips down the whitemud drive (20min car ride) between all the transit changes, and LRT, it took 2hrs one way with connection issues, it took 3hrs to get home that evening. I was fortunate to be able to stick to driving.