Bus ridership in Edmonton returns to pre-pandemic levels in January

Edmonton Transit Service.

The city says bus ridership reached pre-pandemic levels in January.

Throughout the first month of 2023, ridership averaged 1.2 million rides per week, up from about 700,000 rides per week in January 2022.

During the height of the pandemic, bus ridership dipped to 30 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, with about 350,000 rides per week, the city says.

Officials say paratransit ridership and LRT ridership levels are also increasing, but have not returned to pre-pandemic levels.

“We still have work ahead of us. We’re going to continue to implement changes to make transit more convenient, reliable and safe for Edmontonians,” said Carrie Hotton-MacDonald of ETS in a written release. “This year we will be making a number of service improvements to help build on this momentum.”

Improvements coming in 2023 include:

• Adding 500 additional weekly off-peak bus service hours to address shifting demand for more service outside of peak hours
• Expanding the Arc transit card payment system to include more rider fare groups, including youth, seniors and individuals participating in low-income transit programs.
• Hiring additional transit peace officers to improve safety and security on transit.
• Increasing on demand transit service to reduce wait times and improve hours of service for seniors and serve more neighbourhoods.