Youth in Edmonton think transit could be safer and faster: survey
CBC News | Posted: October 3, 2023 12:00 PM | Last Updated: October 3, 2023
'Youth are going to be the ones inheriting the city, along with its transportation systems': report
Many young people in Edmonton think transit could be faster and safer, according to a city survey conducted in 2022 for youth.
The Edmonton Youth Council worked to find out what concerned young people about the city's transit system. The council will present its findings to the city's urban planning committee next week.
Alain Humura, 20, is the policy chair of the Edmonton Youth Council and worked on the report. Humura said before the survey, there needed to be more engagement with city youth about transit.
There were 193 responses from youth between the ages of 13 and 23. The survey questions looked at various aspects of transit usage, safety, incentives, and ideas for improvement.
"One very big challenge was the perception of safety," Humura said in an interview.
He noted that the COVID-19 pandemic and its challenges fed into the need to serve youth transit ridership better.
The survey found more than 68 per cent of respondents want to improve safety, and more than 71 per cent say transit takes too long.
Issues of safety and cleanliness
Other important issues were transit uncleanliness, feeling unsafe at night and a lack of security. These safety concerns were mainly observed at transit centres and LRT stations, the report stated.
According to respondents, routes and timing, payment procedure and affordability, and comfort and security were other areas of improvement.
"This statistical intel demonstrates the importance of bolstering youths' relationship with transit. This is especially critical as youth transit usage declines when youth turn 25," the report stated.
"Youth are going to be the ones inheriting the city, along with its transportation systems. Therefore, if the transit system is convenient and safe for youth, they will be more likely to use transit."
Tiffany Phan, 17, is in charge of the transit initiative with the youth council and co-led the project with Humura.
Phan said the survey was conducted by contacting youth groups, public schools and post-secondary institutions like the University of Alberta.
"[We're] just really trying to see if the city is able to listen to what the youth have to say, hopefully act upon what the youth want," Phan said.
The report found that the Arc card system has been a favourable addition to the transit system.
Youth wanted timing accuracy and improved transit frequency in all areas of the city—not just the inner city, the report found.
Anne Stevenson, city councillor for Ward O-day'min, will be chairing next week's urban planning committee and will hear some of the concerns from the report.
"A lot of the report, to me, really speaks to the fact that between 2015 and 2022, we saw a 15 per cent increase in Edmonton's population, as well, as more roads, bigger neighbourhoods, and we didn't see any increase in transit hours," Stevenson said.
"We have a huge deficit right now, about 5,000 hours per week of service hours, that we're short of in order to meet our previous per capita levels."
She noted that repurposing the Valley Line southeast pre-cursor bus service and acquiring a new bus barn are recently approved investments to increase service capacity.
"About 47 per cent of all fare revenue comes from youth. Their presence and participation in the transit system is critically important," Stevenson said.
According to the City Plan-Mass Transit Backgrounder presented in 2019, youth ages 18-24 and those under 18 hold the first and second most significant shares of transit usage, respectively.
Some of the goals outlined in the report include making transit more accessible for low-income youth and youth with limited access to transit due to age or disability.