LRT in Edmonton is failing to change commuter habits

A new survey suggests that even after substantial investment in its LRT system, transit mode-share in Edmonton has not increased.

The city’s 2015 Household Travel Survey, which took info from over 21,000 households, found that just 8.6 percent of trips were on transit in 2015 — a zero percent change from 2005^[1][2]. Meanwhile, the percentage of trips taken by car during these 10 years actually increased, and more than 75% of Edmonton commuters are continuing to primarily travel by car.

These results send a clear warning that a street-running LRT may not change commuter habits in Surrey.

During the 10 years between 2005 and 2015, Edmonton expanded its LRT system 4 times:

As these extensions were primarily built at grade-level, they incorporate several at-grade crossings of busy arterial roadways. The new Metro Line LRT is particularly notorious as its at-grade design has resulted in excessive traffic delays at road crossings.

In 2016 we pointed out that the Metro Line disaster must be seen as a warning for all Canadian cities that have chosen a street-running light rail system, including the City of Surrey. The results of this survey should send an even stronger warning.

We will not stand for a system that congests our communities, fails to reduce travel times, and doesn’t deliver reliability improvements that Surrey residents expect from rapid transit. It’s time to abandon the Surrey-Newton-Guildford LRT project and scrap the Surrey LRT vision.