Edmonton looks for alternative funding sources to run public transit
CBC
Edmonton will start looking outside the conventional revenue box to help pay for a public transit system that's struggled to find new riders over the past few years.
Council agreed Tuesday that city administration should explore different ways to generate revenue, outlined in a report to council by the city operations branch.
Options include implementing community revitalization levies, parking fees, vehicle registration fees, and pursuing an agreement to receive a portion of the provincial government's motor fuel tax.
Currently, Edmonton Transit Service relies largely on property tax and transit fares, which are strained sources of revenue, the report says.
Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said it's time to branch out from conventional revenue sources.
"We cannot continue to rely on property taxes in order to create the kind of conditions that are necessary for us to shift that mode of transportation," Sohi said at the council meeting.
Despite the focus on getting revenues from vehicle-related activities like parking and registration fees, Coun. Aaron Paquette said he doesn't believe the goal is to discourage people from driving.
"What it is about is making transit more attractive — to fund transit properly," Paquette said. "It's time to modernize how we fund our system to step up with reality of what other municipalities are doing."
More people taking transit means fewer vehicles on the roads, cutting back commute times and headaches, Paquette said.
City managers have reported that over the past two years, ridership on ETS dropped to about half compared to what it was before the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The pandemic has shown us the need for secure, predictable, stable funding," Paquette said. "So there's no better time than now to start exploring those things."
Coun. Anne Stevenson suggested the city could add an extra dollar to event tickets in the city, such as hockey and football games, especially at city-owned facilities like Commonwealth Stadium.
"It just occurs to me — you know the last event I attended at Commonwealth, there was such a huge crowd getting on to the platform, I don't think anyone was paying for transit," Stevenson said.
Carrie Hotton-MacDonald, manager of ETS, said they have considered the option of a single event ticket with a transit fee built-in.
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