It’s been a little more than a week since the opening of the new LRT line and although Edmonton is still working out some minor glitches – and the details of its city manager’s severance package – St. Albert commuters seem to have come out relatively unscathed by the previously anticipated traffic delays.
Initially it was reported that the Metro Line LRT could add an extra 12 to 16 minutes travel time to trips passing through the Princess Elizabeth Avenue and 111 Avenue intersections during peak periods.
But transit director Bob McDonald said the LRT line has caused little to no delays to its four commuter routes travelling through the area.
“Right now there has been no indication of systemic delays. Buses are late a little bit from time to time but that’s not related to the Metro Line LRT,” said McDonald. “In general, they’re all running close to on time.”
St. Albert Transit will continue to monitor the effects of the LRT on the 201, 202, 209 and 211 routes over the next week, but McDonald said he does not anticipate making any changes to bus scheduling at this time.
Scheduling tweaks could occur once the Metro Line LRT begins operating at full-speed. Currently it is running every 15 minutes and at a maximum of 25 km/h between MacEwan and NAIT stations.
Due to ongoing issues with the signalling system, the City of Edmonton is taking a line of sight approach with speed restrictions that allow for safe braking.
When the new signalling system is complete and train frequency increases to 10 minutes as originally designed, McDonald said his department will look at how to co-ordinate its bus schedule for effective transferring between systems.
“Right now, at the speed it’s going it’s not much more of an advantage, so I don’t know that we would be looking to transfer people to the train,” said McDonald.
“It was always our plan that once the train was running at its designed speed and schedule that we would look at the possibility of transferring people directly to it, at least on one route,” he added.
The Metro Line LRT is part of the expansion needed for the system to one day reach St. Albert.
