Jump to content

Edmonton and Area spotting and news


t_harris01

Recommended Posts

3 hours ago, M. Parsons said:

Unfortunate news out of Sturgeon County. The 599 is being discontinued as of December 31.

 

I noticed there's two schools directly north of Edmonton Garrison (Namao, AB), and Google Maps suggests quite the enrollment. If there was a student ridership factor involved, or a circular route which would stop at the Remand Centre and possibly help feed passengers to Eaux Claire in a CCW rotation, would it be possible to bring up ridership to a level to - at least - keep service to the base? Or in the case of Maple Leaf with Brandon Transit (Manitoba), provide transit service during shift changes only, if rush hour ridership doesn't justify the service?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, armorand said:

I noticed there's two schools directly north of Edmonton Garrison (Namao, AB), and Google Maps suggests quite the enrollment. If there was a student ridership factor involved, or a circular route which would stop at the Remand Centre and possibly help feed passengers to Eaux Claire in a CCW rotation, would it be possible to bring up ridership to a level to - at least - keep service to the base? Or in the case of Maple Leaf with Brandon Transit (Manitoba), provide transit service during shift changes only, if rush hour ridership doesn't justify the service?

No school ridership, those would be County schools, so, no Edmonton students. All school buses anyways. The Remand route was cancelled awhile ago. Not enough ridership. Given that the 599 is a County funded route, having it serve the Remand would complicate who is paying for it.... and on top of the fact that the ridership wasn't there anyways.

A lot of fanciful thoughts, but, I'm afraid ridership factors can be a hard reality no matter the number of "what ifs" that sound plausible.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 hours ago, M. Parsons said:

No school ridership, those would be County schools, so, no Edmonton students. All school buses anyways. The Remand route was cancelled awhile ago. Not enough ridership. Given that the 599 is a County funded route, having it serve the Remand would complicate who is paying for it.... and on top of the fact that the ridership wasn't there anyways.

A lot of fanciful thoughts, but, I'm afraid ridership factors can be a hard reality no matter the number of "what ifs" that sound plausible.

I haven't been able to find a Welding apprenticeship in Calgary at all, sadly... so I might be moving to Edmonton soon, so I can at least look at working around either there, Sherwood, Acheson or Nisku and finally getting my apprenticeship before AIT forces me to retest all over again. I might just be doing improvised ridership reports for CPTDB, myself, in a few months time, if I'm going to be bussing all across the towns and cities. 

I wonder with Jason Kenney, Alberta's economy and overall public transit in the province as a whole... if there are any more cuts to public transit funding, ridership levels and commitments, would it hit Edmonton harder, or Calgary? Edmonton does have alot better transit access to employment, or even in general, along with another line of LRT on the way. For example, I could rent a place in Leduc, work in Nisku and go to WEM with ease, maybe Sherwood Park for temp work... there's flexibility, being without a car in the Edmonton area isn't as painful as it is down South.

But there is also Calgary, with LRT mostly built out (minus the North-Centre and Southeast), yet transit access to employment is minimal at best, with 80,000 hours cut, and some BRT being constructed, yet cutting off routes to entire sections of the city (example: most of the Southeast after 10pm on weekends now). 25-30 minute car rides to Downtown from Stoney, yet on transit, its 2x-3x as long, even longer beyond it. With significant employment now being created outside of Calgary Transits service areas (Crossiron, Shepard), it puts people without cars or even bike routes, at a significant disadvantage. Something that ETS and surrounding transit systems around Edmonton, have been able to provide significant enough service, to make employment in these areas (Acheson and Nisku in mind) possible without the need for a personal car. Which for me, as a welding apprentice, can be a reliable asset and reason for me to move to Edmonton for work.

Whats everyones thoughts on this?

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Board Admin
31 minutes ago, armorand said:

I haven't been able to find a Welding apprenticeship in Calgary at all, sadly... so I might be moving to Edmonton soon, so I can at least look at working around either there, Sherwood, Acheson or Nisku and finally getting my apprenticeship before AIT forces me to retest all over again. I might just be doing improvised ridership reports for CPTDB, myself, in a few months time, if I'm going to be bussing all across the towns and cities. 

I wonder with Jason Kenney, Alberta's economy and overall public transit in the province as a whole... if there are any more cuts to public transit funding, ridership levels and commitments, would it hit Edmonton harder, or Calgary? Edmonton does have alot better transit access to employment, or even in general, along with another line of LRT on the way. For example, I could rent a place in Leduc, work in Nisku and go to WEM with ease, maybe Sherwood Park for temp work... there's flexibility, being without a car in the Edmonton area isn't as painful as it is down South.

But there is also Calgary, with LRT mostly built out (minus the North-Centre and Southeast), yet transit access to employment is minimal at best, with 80,000 hours cut, and some BRT being constructed, yet cutting off routes to entire sections of the city (example: most of the Southeast after 10pm on weekends now). 25-30 minute car rides to Downtown from Stoney, yet on transit, its 2x-3x as long, even longer beyond it. With significant employment now being created outside of Calgary Transits service areas (Crossiron, Shepard), it puts people without cars or even bike routes, at a significant disadvantage. Something that ETS and surrounding transit systems around Edmonton, have been able to provide significant enough service, to make employment in these areas (Acheson and Nisku in mind) possible without the need for a personal car. Which for me, as a welding apprentice, can be a reliable asset and reason for me to move to Edmonton for work.

Whats everyones thoughts on this?

An early welcome to you! (If you move!)

Calgary got hit really hard with the budget cuts; I'm not sure if Edmonton is next to chop things. Regional transit has taken off pretty well across the province, but it needs funding to continue too, and that includes Leduc Transit.

You mention traveling to Edmonton from Leduc "with ease", but it all depends where you live and where you need to go (eg. for work). In welding specifically, a lot of industrial welders need trucks to get to jobs out in the field. It'd probably be inconvenient / impossible to get to some of those places on transit. Industrial areas may not have the best service here either - your argument sounds like you are giving ETS a higher rating based on having some service as opposed to no service.

Edmonton is generally a "car city", and living in Leduc, you would have much more convenience with a car to come into the city. However, Leduc Transit is pretty good and would probably be comparable to Airdrie ICE.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, armorand said:

if there are any more cuts to public transit funding, ridership levels and commitments, would it hit Edmonton harder, or Calgary?

Usually provincial funding is for capital projects, not operating costs, so ridership levels should remain flat in either city. Other than that, it's way to early to speculate what it could mean if the Provincial Government pulled out of LRT funding commitments. I don't think it would be a wise decision on their part. But, again, since it's not built yet any theoretical ridership increase from it doesn't exist yet. 

I feel Leduc, and Spruce Grove are firmly entrenched enough. Argee that Leduc would be doable. Nisku, not as much. As long as your shift lines up with the peak hour buses. 

Careful with Sherwood Park. Areas with in Sherwood Park are well served. Strathcona County not as well. Refinery Row has little useful transit access.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, A. Wong said:

An early welcome to you! (If you move!)

You mention traveling to Edmonton from Leduc "with ease", but it all depends where you live and where you need to go (eg. for work). In welding specifically, a lot of industrial welders need trucks to get to jobs out in the field. It'd probably be inconvenient / impossible to get to some of those places on transit. Industrial areas may not have the best service here either - your argument sounds like you are giving ETS a higher rating based on having some service as opposed to no service.

Thanks!

And I wouldn't rent/live in Leduc unless it was dirt cheap, but mostly I would be in Nisku for welding apprentice work. Worst case scenario: I could rent on the outskirts of Edmonton, or near Century Park, and be able to have at least one way to work (to work/from work) covered by ETS/Leduc Transit, and use the welding wages to cover cabs if its late. Edmonton has expanded to the point where it may be possible to bike/taxi to Nisku, along the outermost outskirts of the city now. The thing is though: as an apprentice, jobs do come and go, so if I do need to find work elsewhere around Edmonton, i'd need to be physically within the city for ETS, so my only options for living would be Strathcona County, Edmonton or the southern edge of St. Albert, to make going to/from Acheson as painless as possible. If i settle in Leduc and can't find work in Nisku, i'd be basically shooting myself in the foot financially, and transit-wise, like i've found out the hard way with Route 406 in Calgary, going to SAIT or to any other prospective employment. 

I wouldn't mind some service at all, it can be planned and at least one way to work is covered via transit, and the other way can come out of the welding wages, if not coworker rides back to city/ETS coverage limits and such. I could work with that. But without any service at all? It just provides a massive disadvantage to qualified workers without cars. Might also be a factor of Calgary's high unemployment rate. Edmonton friends I have, they're telling me the whole city is hiring compared to Calgary, in terms of trades and even just general work. With even partial ETS service, it definitely helps to land employment, even if it may cost me a taxi here and there - i'd rather spend $20 on the occasional late shift for a cab from Nisku to ETS catchment areas, than to pay $400+/month for a car, and investing rent/grocery money into a car as well. It's how I survived in Winnipeg :p

5 hours ago, M. Parsons said:

Usually provincial funding is for capital projects, not operating costs, so ridership levels should remain flat in either city. Other than that, it's way to early to speculate what it could mean if the Provincial Government pulled out of LRT funding commitments. I don't think it would be a wise decision on their part. But, again, since it's not built yet any theoretical ridership increase from it doesn't exist yet. 

I feel Leduc, and Spruce Grove are firmly entrenched enough. Argee that Leduc would be doable. Nisku, not as much. As long as your shift lines up with the peak hour buses. 

Careful with Sherwood Park. Areas with in Sherwood Park are well served. Strathcona County not as well. Refinery Row has little useful transit access.

I'd be potentially working as a unionized welder, I could afford a cab here and there if needed, but just not the costs of owning a car just yet. If there's transit within ~1.5km walking distance of employment (20 min walk), I could take the bus one way and cab back if late, vice versa. I could live with it. Just not without any transit service, way to bike to/from work in warmer weather, or being too far from transit. I used to walk 40+ minutes in Winnipeg for the bus, i'm used to it, and walk around in Calgary as well, so if it's a $27/hr job with $39 OT, i'd be more than willing to take an extra km or two walking to/from work or the bus stops. I just would need it to be in at least 3km of the refineries, or potential work places (Nisku, Acheson) so that way, even if there isn't very much service, a cab wouldn't be above $20, so it would be still possible to work as a welder around Edmonton without the need for my own car (just yet) if I can just multi-modal my trips around the city, and save as much money as possible for a car, or for costs of living otherwise. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

46 minutes ago, armorand said:

I'd rather spend $20 on the occasional late shift for a cab from Nisku to ETS catchment areas, than to pay $400+/month for a car, and investing rent/grocery money into a car as well. It's how I survived in Winnipeg 

Remember, Uber exists in Edmonton, it'll make it cheaper still ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 minutes ago, Blake M said:

Remember, Uber exists in Edmonton, it'll make it cheaper still ?

Uber is highly dependent on credit cards, and currently mine is maxed to the limit ? in the future though, it would definitely be of use though. Absolutely. Uber rides could max out to 4-5km too, so i could have $15 uber rides. Even with a full 5-day work week, taking ETS/StAT/Strath/Leduc Transit one way and taking a Uber back home afterward, or vice versa, thats only $150/two weeks. On minimal wage? Not worth it unless i get tips. But welders wages? Most definitely feasbile. And still cheaper than a car with related costs as well lol

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
17 hours ago, armorand said:

His quote included the term "hot brakes", and wanted to ask exactly what it meant? Unless it was literally, scorching hot brakes.

And if you read the article: 

"The train’s brake pads overheated creating smoke, but no fire, said City of Edmonton spokeswoman Sarah Jackson."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

I suspect it will eventually be back. Surely, insurance will fix it. It's still such a new bus. Could be a supply chain issue getting the right parts, or perhaps the bus is even back with Grande West for repair. Not sure if any other Vicinity's have been light poled. :P

If it's still awaiting repair on ETS property though, I could see it being a temporary organ donor?

Although there's a surplus of Vicinity's, we'll see what sort of plans there are for the fleet under the network redesign. 

There could even be a change in Vicinity plans when the Kathleen Andrew's Garage opens. Mitchell seems tight for space, might make sense to move their Vicinity's to Kathleen Andrew's. It's kind of insane that the 580's buses have to run from Ferrier.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, M. Parsons said:

I suspect it will eventually be back. Surely, insurance will fix it. It's still such a new bus. Could be a supply chain issue getting the right parts, or perhaps the bus is even back with Grande West for repair. Not sure if any other Vicinity's have been light poled. :P

If it's still awaiting repair on ETS property though, I could see it being a temporary organ donor?

Although there's a surplus of Vicinity's, we'll see what sort of plans there are for the fleet under the network redesign. 

There could even be a change in Vicinity plans when the Kathleen Andrew's Garage opens. Mitchell seems tight for space, might make sense to move their Vicinity's to Kathleen Andrew's. It's kind of insane that the 580's buses have to run from Ferrier.

Funny thing, I was having a conversation regarding the unit that was at CUTA yesterday, and Shawn decided to post the pole incident photo...wow, just wow...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...