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Edmonton Transit Service

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The Edmonton Transit System, also called ETS, is the public transit service which is owned and operated by the city of Edmonton, Alberta.

ETS Bus on route 51


Bus service

The ETS runs service on buses within the city of Edmonton. It also provides connections with bus service in the suburbs of St. Albert (with service to Morinville), Sherwood Park, Fort Saskatchewan and the Edmonton Garrison at Namao. During 2006, a trial service to Spruce Grove is being experimented at peak hours. Another trial service to Beaumont in 2003-2004 was discontinued due to low ridership. St. Albert and Sherwood Park operate their own transit systems (and charge extra for their respective trips to/from Edmonton), while Fort Saskatchewan, Spruce Grove and Garrison services are operated by ETS.

ETS Electric Bus


The vast majority of buses in the Edmonton fleet are low floor buses which have been progressively introduced into the system since 1993. These include New Flyer's D40LF model - also used in Calgary - and also its D60LF articulated model.

Bus service in Edmonton is run on the timed transfer system, where suburban feeder routes run to a transit center, and passengers then transfer to a mainline route to downtown. The major transit centers are West Edmonton Mall (#1,2,4,100), Southgate (#9), Northgate (#9,134,140), Jasper Place (#1,120), Millgate (#6,8,71,81), Mill Woods (#6,8,71) and Clareview (LRT)

[[Image:Edmonton area 004.jpg|thumb|right|High Level Rail Bridge with lower LRT bridge and train crossing]

Routes

Edmonton numbers its bus routes based on the area they run in, with numbers 1-29 being base routes. There are some exceptions to this, such as routes 59 and 136, due to a shortage of numbers in the area they operate in. Outside of rush hour all routes, with the exception of the trolley routes, are designated low floor bus service.

Base Routes (1-29): 1 West Edmonton Mall/Capilano - via Jasper Place and Downtown - most trips interline at Capilano Transit Centre with Route 4

Typical ETS Route Map.

2 Lessard/Clareview -night and early weekend morning servic ends at Highlands instead of Clareview

3 Jasper Place/Cromdale - electric trolley bus route

4 West Edmonton Mall/Capilano - via the University of Alberta and Old Strathcona - most trips interline at Capilano Transit Centre with Route 1

Riverbend/Terwilleger Routes (30-39):

Heritage/Yellowbird Routes (40-49):

University/Strathcona Routes (50-59):

Mill Woods Routes (60-79):

Capilano/Bonnie Doon Routes (80-99):

West Edmonton Routes (100-119):

West Central Routes (120-139):

East Central Routes (140-149):

North Central Routes (150-159):

Castle Downs Routes (160-179):

North East Edmonton Routes (180-199) (Numbers in this series are also used for commuter routes ETS operates outside of Edmonton): 196 West Edmonton/Spruce Grove 197 University/Downtown/Spruce Grove 198 Clareview/Fort Saskatchewan 199 Northgate/Edmonton Garrison

Special Service Routes (200-299) (Routes in this series rarely display their number, to avoid confusion with the St Albert commuter rotues also numbered in the 200's):

Small Bus Routes (300-399):

Trolley Bus

Edmonton Transit operates 53 zero emission electric trolley buses manufactured in 1981-2 by Brown Boveri and GMC on routes 3, 5, 7, 120, 133, 135 and tripper service on route 9. Routes 3, 5 and 7 are heavily traveled mainline routes:

  • The route 3 runs from Jasper Place transit centre to the Cromdale neighborhood through the North West Industrial area along 118 Ave to 124 St, then along 107 Ave through downtown and up 97 St.
  • Route 5 connects Westmount Centre with Coliseum LRT Station along the main commercial streets of 124 St, Jasper Ave, 95 St and 118 Ave.
  • Route 7 begins at Jasper Place, serves residential and commercial areas along 107 Ave, then operates to the southside communities of McKernan and Belgravia. As of April 25, 2006 route 7 trolley bus service is suspended to allow for construction to occur on the 76 Avenue Station of the SLRT line.
  • Route 9 trolley service from NAIT to downtown supplements the diesel service on that route from Southgate to Northgate.
  • Route 120 running from Jasper Place to Stadium along 102 Ave and Jasper Ave provides extra weekday and Saturday service along parts of routes 1 and 2.
  • Route 135 provides supplementary peak and midday service on route 5 between downtown and Westmount.
  • Route 133 provides extra service during peak hours along route 7 from Jasper Place to Old Strathcona (Whyte Ave), and then continues into the Parkallen neighborhood.

Currently under consideration is an extension of the trolley system to Northgate which would allow all route 9s to run with trolleys, as well as routes 134 Downtown-Northgate via 101 St and 140 Downtown-Northgate via 97 St.

Light rail

Health sciences, end of the line in 2006.
Health sciences, new construction Aug 2006.

Edmonton runs a 12.3 km light rail route with eleven stations, also known as LRT Route 201, between the northeastern community of Clareview and the Health Science Centre with a mix of tunnels and at-grade track. 7.6 km of the line is at-grade. The system uses trains of Siemens-Duewag U2 cars; an order was also recently placed which will bring twenty-six Siemens SD-160 cars into the fleet starting in 2008 [1]. Currently, six stations are underground, while the remaining five are at-grade.

History

Edmonton was the first city in North America with a population of less than one million to build a modern light rail system. The route first started construction in 1974, and opened its first segment on April 22, 1978, in time for the 1978 Commonwealth Games. The line followed a CN right-of-way from Belvedere Station to Stadium Station, via an intermediate stop at Coliseum Station (near the Northlands Coliseum, now Rexall Place), and then continued in a tunnel under 99 Street to Central Station, at Jasper Avenue and 100 Street, including an intermediate stop, Churchill. The original line was 6.9 km long.

On April 26, 1981, in the same year Calgary opened its first C-Train line, the ETS opened a northeastern-bound extension of 2.2 km on the CN right-of-way to Clareview Station. In June 1983, the light rail tunnel downtown was extended by 0.8 km to Bay and Corona stations, and was extended again in September 1989 by one station and 0.8 km to Grandin (below the Alberta Legislature). On August 23, 1992, the next extension opened from Grandin to University Station, partially via a North Saskatchewan River crossing with a lower level for pedestrians and cyclists, and partially via a tunnel into the University Station. On January 1, 2006, the line was extended south through the University Campus to the Health Sciences Station, and located at street level.

LRT extension under construction (July 2006)


Every station on the line built since 1983 was built with full accessibility for the disabled, and in the late 1990s, Clareview and Belvedere Stations were covered and also had their platforms lengthened to allow for the use of five-car trains.

A map of the Edmonton light railway.
A map of the Edmonton light railway.

List of Stations, North to South

Under Construction:

Fares

As of February 1, 2006:

  • Adult--Cash $ 2.25

Ten Ticket Strip $ 18.50 Monthly Pass $ 59.00

  • Seniors--Cash $ 2.00,

Ten Ticket Strip $ 16.00 Monthly Pass $ 11.00 Yearly Pass $ 45.00 to $ 105.00

  • Youth--Cash $ 2.00

Ten Ticket Strip $ 16.00

  • Student Fare packages are maintained by the respective educational institution.
  • DAY PASS $ 6.75 (all ages)

Fleet

A list of current and pass vehicles: Trolley Buses:

  • Associated Equipment Co/English Electric Co 663T Trolley Bus (Units 101-103:1939-1951)
  • Leyland 663T Trolley Bus (Units 104-109:1939-1951)
  • Mack Truck Co. CR Trolley Bus (Units 110-112:1942-1962)
  • Pullman Standard Trolley Bus (Units 113-128:1944-1965)
  • American Car and Foundry Brill TC44 Trolley Bus (Units 129&130:1945-1965)
  • Canadian Car and Foundry Brill T44 Trolley Bus (Units 121-191,203-212:1947-1978, Units 203-212 were purchased second hand from Vancouver in 1962, and units 121-130 were purchased second hand from Regian in 1966)
  • Canadian Car and Foundry Brill T48A Trolley Bus (Units 192-202:1952-1978)
  • Flyer Industries E800 Trolley Bus (Units 213-249:1974-1987, all sold to Mexico City)
  • Brown Boveri Co. HR150G Trolley Bus (Units 100-199:1981-present. Units 109 and 110 were sold to Dayton, Ohio in 1994. Units 103, 106, 107, 118, 141, 142, 153, 171, 176, 187 and 191 were scrapped in 2005. Units 121, 124, 128, 129, 131, 133, 135, 140, 148, 155, 179, 183, 193, 195 and 198 have been refurbished. Current active units are 102, 111, 121, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 135, 137, 138, 139, 140, 143, 144, 145, 146, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 155, 156, 157, 160, 161, 163, 166, 168, 170, 172, 173, 175, 177, 179, 180, 181, 183, 189, 192, 193, 195 and 198)

Diesel Buses:

denotes wheelchair accessibility

Future plans

Southern extension

A new 10 km Southern extension [2] is in the building stage. The South LRT will extend from the recently opened Health Sciences Station to Century Park (at 23rd Avenue), a transit-oriented development on the site of the former Heritage Mall that will eventually include housing for thousands of residents.

Other stations include Belgravia-McKernan, Neil Crawford (at 67 Avenue), and Southgate (at 51 Avenue), which could open as early as 2009. The ultimate extension will cost about $600 million. The segment from Health Sciences Station to Century Park will be at-grade with underpasses beneath major roads.

Other plans

Future candidates for light rail expansion include a line from the new Health Sciences Station to West Edmonton Mall and a route from Churchill Station along 105 Avenue and either 104 Street or 105 Street to 111 Avenue, following 106 Street and Princess Elizabeth Avenue to the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology. However, these routes are expected to use bus rapid transit technology, at least initially. A bus rapid transit line is also planned for the southeast of the city, running from downtown to Mill Woods Town Centre.

See also

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