With new Edmonton transit routes starting on April 25, NAIT students should expect big changes. There will be fewer routes directly to NAIT, and the new system will be encouraging the use of the LRT to get to campus.
Jason Roth, the advocacy director for NAIT, warns students that old bus routes will be changed or canceled.
“I think the idea was probably to move the system from one with lots of crosstown routes to more like a spoke and wheel system. No matter where you’re coming from, you’re likely going to get to NAIT unless you’re on one of the main routes. You’re likely going to be connecting downtown and then getting on a train,” said Roth.
The City of Edmonton recommends using the Transit app, where riders can preview what their new trip will look like.
“There is a route planner that allows you to plan your route by entering a date after April 25. That’s when the routes will take effect,” said Roth.
Although routes and new bus numbers have been released, timetables for each bus frequency have not.
“We have not seen the timetables for these routes. And that’s the real concern we want to see the timetables. If students are connecting and you’re only waiting two minutes for another bus, that’s not much of a problem. But if those buses are only coming every half an hour, that’s a big problem,” said Roth.
NAIT has been in contact with Edmonton transit regarding factors that would make students want to ride ETS.
“We’ve advised Edmonton Transit many times that several factors will affect whether or not a student takes transit. One of them is safety. The other is ride time, and if a student has to spend three hours of the day on transit, they’re going to drive,” said Roth.
For more information on the new bus routes, check here.
