St. Albert will be asking Edmonton city council to consider the concept of amalgamating the two cities' transit administrations. Coun. Wes Brodhead brought two motions to the floor during Tuesday night's council meeting.
St. Albert will be asking Edmonton city council to consider the concept of amalgamating the two cities' transit administrations.
Coun. Wes Brodhead brought two motions to the floor during Tuesday night's council meeting. One seeks collaboration amongst transit players in the region.
The second directs Mayor Nolan Crouse to ask Edmonton city council to have its administration enter into talks with St. Albert city staff about creating a single transit operating entity that would serve both municipalities.
“It's not for the faint of heart to go forward,” said Coun. Wes Brodhead.
Brodhead, who worked for decades in the transit industry, retired from his position with Edmonton Transit System last year. He now sits as the chair of the Capital Region Board's committee on transit, a group he says has work to do on this topic, but cannot compel participation from its members.
Participating in regionalized transit – perhaps creating a commission or some other kind of unified transit authority – has to be each municipality's decision, he said.
The goal would be to look for harmonization and maybe some cost-savings when it comes to administrative expenses.
With Leduc now adding its own transit providers and other towns working towards providing transit to their citizens, Brodhead believes public transit is going to be a big issue in the capital region. St. Albert, Edmonton and Strathcona County already operate transit systems, including routes that head to downtown Edmonton.
“I challenged the politicians of the Capital Region Board a number of weeks ago to think differently,” he said, adding he thinks that getting transit to small-town Alberta is important, especially to seniors who rely on others for transportation.
But Tuesday's motions aren't about moving towards combining forces with Edmonton, or a regionalized transit commission, immediately.
“This is only about a conversation today and about implications and about administration reporting back,” he said. “We're putting our toe in the water and saying, yes, this is worthy of a conversation.”
Brodhead asked his council colleagues to “take a leap of faith” and move the conversation forward.
Council unanimously approved both motions, and Brodhead's fellow councillors spoke in support of both his motions and his transit management experience.
“I think we have an opportunity here to drive the agenda,” said Coun. Tim Osborne, noting this motion from St. Albert might spark discussion around the region. “If the residents of St. Albert are better served by this, they will support it.”
Coun. Cathy Heron noted her experiences on the regional wastewater commission as an example of how efficiencies can be found with a regional approach.
Coun. Gilles Prefontaine and Coun. Sheena Hughes said the report process, if it goes forward, would help answer questions.
“This report, I'm hoping it's in extreme detail because there's so many issues,” Hughes said.
Mayor Nolan Crouse noted there might be a will for regionalization on paper, but getting people to put money towards it might be tougher.
“It is going to cause agitation because this is transferring the political ball forward,” he said.
