The City of Edmonton has released their first year-in-review update for the Funicular.
According to the report, taxpayers paid a total of $716,468 for the site, which operates daily between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m.
The majority of the costs were for repairs and maintenance, with $345,483 going to preventative maintenance and daily start-up costs, and another $112,641 going to non-emergency breakdown response and repair.
Another major cost was security, which cost $90,117 for site services and monitoring, and an additional $6,536 in security guard support.
The city also spent $34,118 in snow clearing at the site, and $31,186 in janitorial services.
A survey conducted by the city found that only 14 per cent of the population reported using the service, but 46 per cent of residents reported that they intend to visit the site.
The survey also found that 22 per cent of visitors use the funicular as part of their commute, 35 per cent of visitors have been using the funicular for six months or more, and 31 per cent use the funicular to access the river valley.
The report also noted that city staff responded to approximately 550 incident alarms between December 2017 and November 2018, the second highest number of alarms recorded at a city site.
About 57 per cent of the alarms resulted from passengers pressing the emergency stop button. These incidents resulted in temporary stoppages that were resolved when the system was reset.
Another 20 per cent of alarms were the result of door malfunctions, heavy winds, or too many passengers.
An additional 20 per cent of alarms were system failures.
Only three per cent of alarms were a result of incidents in the elevator.
