Title
Acheson Transit Service Update
Proposed Motions
1. That the Acheson Transit Service update be received for information, as presented.
2. That Administration be directed to present to Council a recommendation to reduce the Acheson Transit Service by three morning and three afternoon trips.
Body
Administration Recommendation
Administration supports the proposed motions.
Purpose
To provide an update to the Committee of the Whole on the current status of the Acheson Transit Service.
Summary
Transit Ridership
Two transit routes currently provide peak hour service to the Acheson Business Area, Route 561 and Route 562, from Monday to Friday between 6:23-9:47 am and between 3:35-7:37 pm. Route 561 operates from NAIT to Westmount in Edmonton, and then to Acheson Zone 1. Route 562 operates from West Edmonton Mall to Acheson Zone 3 as well as from Spruce Grove to Acheson Zone 3. Prior to September of 2019, Route 562 operated from University of Alberta South Campus to West Edmonton Mall then to Acheson and Spruce Grove. Due to low ridership between South Campus and West Edmonton Mall, this portion of the route was discontinued in September of 2019.
For Route 261, there are two trips in the morning from Edmonton and four trips at the end of the day returning to Edmonton. For Route 262, there are four trips in the morning from Edmonton, four trips from Spruce Grove and four trips returning to both Spruce Grove and Edmonton at the end of the day. Ridership for Route 561 and 562 in 2019 is reflected in the attached chart. This level of ridership has remained constant since the Acheson Transit service started in 2016. Current ridership is one to three riders on each route daily, or a total of two to six riders per day.
Cost of Acheson Transit and Shuttle Service
The Acheson Transit service is operated as a Public Transportation Utility for which the estimated net cost of operating the service in 2019 is $674,300. The net cost is comprised of $436,837 for the Spruce ...
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