'Lifeline' on-demand transit service at risk of being cut if not funded by city council

On-demand transit users are at risk of losing their bus service after it was not included in the city's proposed operations budget unveiled Thursday.

Should the proposed operations budget for 2023-26 receive city council approval without any changes, on-demand transit would be cut after April 2023. It requires around $12 million to continue at its current service level for the next four years, and there is no budget provision listed to make up for the lost bus service should it remain unfunded.

For the councillor representing Ward Nakota Isga, that is unacceptable.

"It has become such a lifeline for so many residents in many different communities across the city," Andrew Knack told CTV News Edmonton.

Council's community and public services subcommittee discussed on-demand transit on Oct. 11, a conversation Knack believes showed how integral the service is.

"I heard pretty loud and clear from almost every one of my colleagues about how important this is," Knack said.

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A 'FLEXIBLE' TRANSIT OPTION

The On Demand Transit service was added to the Edmonton Transit System network in April 2021 during the bus network redesign. Council approved one-time funding to provide the on-demand service by a third-party contractor for a term of 24 months.

At the time, officials said the service was meant to provide transit connectivity to communities that "did not meet service standards for conventional fixed-route bus service."

It was designed primarily to serve as a "first kilometre/last kilometre solution," bridging the needs of seniors and other residents living in communities that have little to no ETS coverage.

Neighbourhoods service by on-demand transit in Edmonton (CTV News Edmonton).

According to the city, on-demand transit would use smaller buses and since it was contracted out, it would provide more efficient and "flexible" service.

City data shows that on-demand transit saw approximately 21,000 trips across the system in September 2021. That increased to 32,000 trips during May 2022. ETS data shows that demand nearly hit 45,000 trips in September.

The highest usage between September 2021 and May 2022 was in the areas of Avonmore-Kenilworth, Big Lake and Northwest Industrial, Cavanagh, Edgemont, and Westridge/Rio Terrace/Quesnell Heights.

Areas serviced by specific on-demand transit for seniors (CTV News Edmonton).

On-demand service around seniors residences increased, the city said but has lower uptake than general routes.

While the approach to providing on-demand transit service was new, Knack said it was intended to become an augmentation of the ETS bus network.

The only question about the service when it was initially proposed was whether it would continue to be delivered by a third-party contractor or become formally part of ETS.

"There was discussion at the time of setting it up whether we could bring it in-house," Knack said. "That was the only part of the service that was meant to be a 'pilot.'"

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'THEIR NEEDS NEED TO BE CONSIDERED'

ETS, Via, and Pacific Western conducted an on-demand service survey in October and presented the findings to council. More than 300 users participated.

Fifty-three per cent of respondents reported they had an annual household income below $50,000 and 47 per cent said they were between 13 and 24 years old.

Of those that participated in the survey, 58 per cent self-identified as Black, Indigenous, or people of colour — with 57 per cent being women and three per cent as non-binary or gender queer.

Ninety-six per cent of respondents indicated they relied on the service to get to work, school or healthcare appointments.

Only six per cent said they would be "not disappointed" if the service was cancelled.

The vast majority of survey respondents said they wanted the service to expand, with more areas included, longer service hours, and more buses.

Giselle General, chair of the Edmonton Transit Advisory Board, said she was concerned to find out that on-demand service was at risk of being unfunded.

"Several neighbourhoods were given this as a compromise," General said. "There are many neighbourhoods, especially in the outskirts of the city that don't have any (transit) service at all. Their needs need to be considered."

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General relies on public transit to get around daily and even based the decision on where to move in the city on the type of ETS options available.

"It's really important to think about the human impact of our policy decisions because it will impact people in their everyday living," General added.

Giselle General orders an On Demand Transit bus at the West Edmonton Mall Transit Centre on Friday, Nov. 4, 2022 (CTV News Edmonton/Nahreman Issa).

ALMOST EVERY ROUTE'S USE IS INCREASING: KNACK

"The on-demand service has been a huge success across the city," Knack said. "Almost every route is seeing pretty large increases in service."

He said that Big Lake riders often wait more than an hour for on-demand service at peak hours because it is so popular.

"That is not the exception," he added. "We are seeing it across the entire city."

"What is, I guess confusing to me then, is why it wasn't built into the base budget?"

During these budget deliberations, Knack shared how he hoped to bring forward the need to invest more into on-demand transit to extend seniors service beyond 4:30 p.m., add more buses and service more neighbourhoods.

"Transit is a core municipal service," Knack said. "I'm a little frustrated, honestly, that it wasn't built into the base budget because now we have to find the money somewhere else in the budget, assuming we don't want to raise taxes more than already proposed."

While Knack says he has never voted against a city budget, he could only support this budget if on-demand transit was included.

"For such a core service to not be built into the base budget feels like something went wrong somewhere because there's no doubt in my mind that every single member of council would say this is a service that has to continue beyond April 30," Knack said.

"There would be no question about that."

The operations budget will be presented to city council on Nov. 14, with budget deliberations to continue into December.

Carrie Hotton-MacDonald, ETS branch manager, told CTV News in a statement that an unfunded budget package is being brought to council for consideration.

"Should council approve the funding package during budget deliberations, the service would continue as a permanent part of the ETS network," she said.

"On Demand Transit service," Hotton MacDonald added, "adds another layer to our integrated transit network, helping to connect riders to their destinations.

"By making it easier for riders to access Edmonton's larger transit system, On Demand Transit service has contributed to ridership recovery and will continue contributing to ridership growth."

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Nahreman Issa