Edmonton councillors say transit needs more stable funding for the future

Edmonton city councillors are pushing for a more consistent and reliable way to pay for public transit as bus and LRT service is expected to cost millions more in the coming years. 

City administration outlined potential options for generating revenue to fund transit and presented those in a new report to council's executive committee meeting on Wednesday.

Options include a dedicated transit tax, increasing property taxes, imposing a local improvement tax, raising fares, and introducing development charges or off-site levies. 

Ashley Salvador, councillor for Ward Métis, suggested the city formulate a multi-year plan for stable and consistent public transit funding. 

"We have chronically underfunded transit for decades at this point," Salvador said. "Public transit is a core essential service and it deserves to be funded as such." 

The committee agreed to Salvador's motion directing administration to draft the plan by next spring.

Salvador also said she can entertain a development charge, where companies pay a fee specifically for the public transit network as it builds a community. 

"As we look to build out a complete network of public transit, it's really important that we're not leaving any communities behind." 

Administration looked into transportation-based revenue sources but found the city has no legislative authority to impose mechanisms like a motor fuel tax and a road use charge, the report shows. The provincial Traffic Safety Act prohibits the road use charge. 

Ward Dene Coun. Aaron Paquette echoed the need for better service to entice people to take transit. 

"We really do have very strongly embedded car culture," he said. "We also need to have robust alternatives that are attractive — we're not going to get there by nickel and diming." 

The city is already lagging behind in service expectations. 

Sarah Feldman, director of business integration and workforce development with the Edmonton Transit Service, said administration reviewed service for the entire city to identify service gaps.

From 2015 to 2022, Edmonton's population grew by approximately 18 per cent but conventional bus service hours didn't increase to meet the need, Feldmand said in an email to CBC News.