'No hidden agenda': Council probes regional transit commission, concerns about privatization ahead of 2023 launch

Drive for regional transit The possibility of a regional transit system to connect communities in the Edmonton area is one step closer to reality. Jeremy Thompson explains.

City councillors are looking for more information from the commission guiding regional transit collaboration in the Edmonton area as it plans one transit system.

On Monday, Edmonton city council received an information update from the Edmonton Metropolitan Transit Services Commission (EMTSC) as the regional bus network plans to prepare service options for an expected start in early 2023.

The commission hopes to reduce barriers to inter-muncipal transit and ensure it remains affordable to users, so that anyone from St. Albert to Fort Saskatchewan can get to Edmonton and vice-versa on one smart fare card.

"You just want to be able to get on a bus, and get to where you want in the region," said Andrew Knack, Ward Nakota Isga councillor and the EMTSC board of governors representative for the city.

For St. Albert Mayor Cathy Heron, the EMTSC represents an opportunity to eliminate service duplication.

"I really do not want to be on a bus or driving beside a bus coming south from St. Albert down Groat Road with an Edmonton Transit bus followed right behind by a St. Albert Transit bus doing the exact same route," Heron said.

"It is inefficient and that is what we are trying to solve with this commission," she added.

Paul Jankowski, EMTSC CEO, says it hopes to be able to take any service hours currently being duplicated and reinvest them in other bus coverage throughout the region. Any generated cost savings would be shared equally among partner municipalities.

"It's not a question of losing those service hours," Jankowski said. "It's a question of allocating them to achieve the highest overall return from a collective perspective which would benefit Edmonton taxpayers."

The EMTSC includes the cities of St. Albert, Edmonton, Spruce Grove, Fort Saskatchewan, Beaumont, Leduc and the towns of Devon and Stony Plain.

LOSS OF LOCAL CONTROL CONCERNS

Strathcona County initially agreed to be part of the municipal commission but withdrew in early 2020, citing concerns that the regional route creation would come at the cost of losing control of its local coverage.

Michael Janz, ward papastew councillor, echoed similar concerns on Monday.

"I worry that the efficiencies are going to come at the cost of ridership and routes for Edmontonians, and I'm worried that fundamentally in the governance model (for the commission), we are giving up local control," Janz said.

In an interview with CTV News Edmonton, Jankowski said there "is no loser of service" within the commission.

"What we are doing right now is we are developing over the next four months, are recommendations for what opening day service in early 2023 will look like to serve the residents and businesses of all eight of these municipalities," Jankowski said.

"There is plenty of service to be delivered in the future," he added. "This is not an exercise to reduce service. What we've indicated is that we will use a mix of delivery options the way that service is delivered today."

He's confident collaboration will mean better transit for all.

"We are concentrating on creating the best opening day service that is feasible," Jankowski said.

Karen Principe, ward tastawiyiniwak councillor, asked Jankowski if the EMTSC had considered what transit security would look like once all transit administrators operate under one banner.

Jankowski said that is one detail that would be addressed "in the future" through service negotiations with municipalities and the development of future operating protocols.

A SEAT AT THE TABLE

For Steve Bradshaw, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 569 president, a major concern is that frontline operators like bus drivers, maintainers, and cleaning staff are not being represented during commission conversations.

"We would like to be part of the evolvement of (regional transit)," Bradshaw told CTV News Edmonton.

Jankowski said the commission "does not have a relationship" with any unions at this time as high-level planning occurs. Once more analysis is completed, Jankowski expects to have more detailed conversations.

"My discussions are with the administrations of the eight-member municipalities," he said to council.

'NO HIDDEN AGENDA'

Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi asked the commission's CEO point-blank about how the regional transit system would impact frontline transit workers.

"I just want certainty that this is not a backdoor way to privatize ETS," Sohi asked. "I need to know that."

"Absolutely not," Jankowski said, adding that there is "no hidden agenda" to reduce staff.

Bradshaw added that many Edmonton Transit Service staff are concerned the EMTSC continues to talk about service efficiency but has presented limited details of what that means on the ground.

"We are getting to a point where they are expecting the City of Edmonton to upload 11 per cent of its service hours into the regional commission," Bradshaw said.

"That is coming just down the road. And we aren't hearing the details of what exactly that means to the stakeholders, the taxpayer, the riders and so on," he added. "We are not getting those hard details."

The EMTSC plans to conduct further analysis and route planning over the next four months to bring back to member municipalities to show how the service would operate.

In terms of Edmonton, city councillors passed a motion asking for further reporting on how ETS riders would be impacted and details on how the commission provides value to taxpayers.

Those are expected to be received this fall.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Jeremy Thompson