As part of The City Plan implementation, City administration completed a mass transit technical study that identifies a mass transit network to support a population horizon of 1.25 million people.

Mass transit describes a number of types of public transit vehicles that carry higher volumes of passengers in urban areas. This  mass transit technical study (16.23 MB) is the first step in advancing Edmonton’s mass transit network beyond the LRT network, and an important part of Edmonton’s journey to achieve its goals for greenhouse gas emissions reductions.

We’re in the strategy phase of this project which means outlining how we should expand the LRT network and identifying candidate corridors that could be served by non-LRT mass transit (such as bus-based or rail-based service) to complement the LRT network.

This project is in the Strategy phase

Mass Transit for 1.25 Million People

1.25 Network by Route Function

The mass transit network for 1.25 million people consists of routes that serve three types of functions:

  • Citywide Routes include rail-based and bus-based mass transit routes to provide the foundation of public transit and create a citywide mass transit network that connects all corners of the city.
  • District Routes fill gaps in the mass transit network and provide connections to city-wide routes, nodes and corridors, and major employment areas.
  • Regional Routes will be integral to the continued prosperity and connectivity of the Edmonton region. These routes will be guided by regional partners and entities, such as the Edmonton Metropolitan Transit Service Commission

Mass Transit by Route Function proposed map

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1.25 Network by Route Service Type

These routes can also be described by service type:

Light Rail Transit (LRT) (shown in green) is a style of urban rail-based passenger services which can provide high capacity and speed, but typically travel slower and use smaller vehicles than long-distance rail services. In Edmonton, LRT includes High Floor LRT (Capital and Metro Lines) and Low Floor LRT (Valley Line).

Semi-Exclusive Routes (shown in red) allow transit vehicles, like buses,  to operate in a separate lane from other vehicles for parts of the corridor and are mixed with other vehicles for other parts (i.e., at intersections, driveways and/or turn lanes). These types of routes are sometimes described as bus rapid transit. In Edmonton, most of these routes are anticipated to be bus-based, but rail-based options, such as streetcar or tram, could still be considered.

Limited Stop Rapid Transit (shown in blue, dashed) allows faster travel than local and frequent bus routes by stopping at strategic locations and bypassing intermediate stops. These routes may include higher capacity vehicles and some transit priority.

Frequent Transit (shown in magenta, thin) provides high service frequencies to serve busy routes and minimize waits and transfers. Stops along frequent transit corridors tend to be spaced closely to reduce walking distance for people and to make transfers more practical. Because of this, frequent transit routes tend to be slower than rapid routes but can potentially move high volumes of people along densely populated corridors.

Regional Connectors (shown in orange) operate partly or entirely outside of Edmonton. Most regional connections operate as rapid transit routes between municipalities in the Edmonton Metropolitan Region like St. Albert, Sherwood Park and others.

Airport Connector (shown in purple) is a bus-based mass transit connection between Downtown and the Edmonton International Airport. It does not consist of an extension of the LRT past city boundaries.

Local Transit (not shown) generally describes the current ETS bus network. Local transit serves neighbourhoods and local destinations, and connects to other local routes and/or higher orders of transit (like mass transit).

Mass Transit by Route Service Type proposed map

Note: these are the same routes shown in the Mass Transit Network for 1.25 million People by Route Function map, but each route is described based on service type.

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