Edmonton Transit to add more buses to afternoon commute after criticism

Edmonton transit will adjust bus service beginning this afternoon after taking criticism this morning when reduced service led to over-crowded buses.

City officials addressed these complaints on Tuesday afternoon, which was the first day service was reduced to Saturday levels due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Interim city manager AdamLaughlin said more buses will hit the road during today's afternoon commute between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.

The city will make these adjustments today before readjusting as needed on a day-by-day basis going forward.

Buses will also be added to 10 routes that don't run on Saturday but usually run on weekdays. More buses are also on standby, Laughlin said, to respond when there are unanticipated bumps in demand.

Laughlin said the March transit pass for low-income riders will be extended to cover April as well, meaning these users won't have to buy a new pass for April.

"We are recalibrating the ride home today. A better balance between safety and service. Tonight, we will review how we did and we will adjust again tomorrow," Laughlin said.

Mayor apologizes

Edmontonians complained about crowded buses and LRT trains during their morning commute on Tuesday, through 311 and on social media.

Mayor Don Iveson responded on TwitterTuesday morning that he's heard these concerns and apologized, saying he's pushing city officials for changes.

Iveson said Monday the city made the decision to reduce the number of buses and LRT on city streets and increase the level of cleaning and disinfecting taking place on these services.

On Tuesday, Laughlin added that choosing Saturday service specifically was done because other widespread adjustments to transit would be hard to implement and communicate to passengers quickly. Reducing to Saturday service was chosen because this schedulealready exists and is accessible online.

The move was also made because ridership dropped around 50 per cent from March 9 to March 16.

"It's a balancing between making sure that we have the resources to be in place to ride this out in the long term, and respecting the service to citizens that we need to provide," Laughlin said.

Check ETS site

Eddie Robar,Edmonton Transit Service branch manager,said that the Edmonton Transit app won't be up to date with the day-by-day changes they make, as it lags behind by a few days. Instead, Robar suggested the ETS website is a better source of up-to-date information.

Information on Google Maps also lags a couple weeks behind, Robar added.

"I want to prepare folks that this will be an extended period of time. In an extended period of time for key services, we need to plan to ensure that we can continue to provide those services throughout that period of time," Laughlin said

Steve Bradshaw, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 569, said earlier on Tuesday that transit operators were uncertain about what to expect going forward, but that a reduction in service allows these workers more time to address personal emergency needs during a pandemic, without losing salary.

But while Bradshaw said there's a lot of uncertainty out there for transit operators, he said the city and union have stepped up to do their part to try and keep Edmonton from becoming a "red zone"for COVID-19 cases.

"I think the morale (for transit operators) is one of confusion, but there's also a huge level of cooperation," Bradshaw said. "People want to pull together here to help get the whole thing through."

Emergency operations

Iveson announced later on Tuesday that the city was activating its emergency operations centre, which brings together City of Edmonton representatives with the emergency response community to coordinate resources. Ithelpscity, emergency and utility services to communicate with each other and respond to problems more rapidly.

The centre was opened at 2:30 p.m., with staff added throughout the day. Typically, it's activated 12 to 14 times per year, depending on need, for major events. What sets thecurrent emergency apart is it will run indefinitely.

Iveson added the Emergency Advisory Committee will meet at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, with up to five councillors in person, abiding by provincial guidelines.