All aboard!
Valley Line South East LRT will help transform Edmonton one ride at a time
by Ward papastew City Councillor Michael Janz
If you haven’t taken a ride, what are you waiting for? I strongly encourage you to take a moment this month, and be a tourist in your own city. I’m so confident as to wager that if you ride the train and aren’t impressed, contact my office and I’ll offer you a 100% refund on your ticket.
I have a small repertoire of activities that I treat out-of-town guests to. If it’s summer, we'll take the High Level Street Car and a visit to the Farmer’s Market. If it’s winter, we might skate and explore Victoria Park. Now, with the opening of the Valley Line LRT, we treat guests to some of the most beautiful views of the river valley and a smooth, hour-long round trip scenic ride. As a father of two train-crazed boys, since opening I think we’ve rode the line a half-dozen times and we notice new features each trip.
From Downtown heading south east, you'll enjoy incredible views of the river valley and downtown. I’ll spare you the play-by-play but one feature that stands out in the cars is that the driver’s compartment is glass, so you enjoy the same unique front and rear views of the journey as they do. The artwork around the stations is a treat as well.
This LRT isn’t merely a buried subway, sending riders down stairs and through a dark, dull dreary tunnel. Rather, riders are treated to a taste of “public luxury”- a chance to experience beauty in our city. Like public art or historic architecture, these features make us feel a sense of pride in our community and open our eyes to the same child-like wonder my boys experience as we crest the hill from Strathern and gaze across the river valley to our Legislature.
While for you and I living further away, the line may be a bit of a novelty. However, I don’t want to downplay the critical transportation function and catalytic urban development transformation opportunity for the future of our city. For hundreds of thousands of our neighbours, this line unlocks new opportunities for work, education, and housing, in a previously underserved quadrant of our city. Judging by the rapid ridership adoption since opening, thousands more cars will be left in their garages as drivers trade their expensive gas bills and traffic jams for a much more affordable and relaxing commute.
While the sticker-shock of LRT construction is certainly not insignificant, rarely do we hold up a true cost accounting of the alternative. The cost of adding lanes in urban areas is not only prohibitively expensive but ineffective. The well-documented traffic principle of “induced demand” with new lanes ensures that traffic reprieves are short-lived.
With the costs of new and used vehicles rising, and the Alberta Motor Association companies estimating the cost of personal automobile ownership to exceed $10,000 per year, offering more neighbours more affordable choices are long overdue. A city of calgary travel cost study found that public transit per kilometre costs half as much to you and the city. Harvard researchers found that the state of Massachusetts was spending $64 Billion in costs associated with the vehicle economy to the state-- per year, every year.
New urban development around the train stations can help welcome thousands of new neighbours into new transit oriented developments. I’m excited to see redevelopment opportunities around Bonnie Doon Mall and Mill Woods Town Centre taking shape. With urban sprawl driving up our tax bills, each new home built in existing areas will ensure a more efficient use of our taxes. The City of Ottawa noted that suburban expansion costs $465 per person per year in Ottawa, yet higher-density infill development earns the city $606 per person per year.
Ultimately, as our city grows, public transit offers an exciting opportunity and investments in public transit today offer more choices for our children tomorrow. The next stage of the LRT is well on its way to West Edmonton Mall. City Council will be receiving an update on new Bus Rapid Transit opportunities early this year— including two exciting routes (Bonnie Doon to West Edmonton Mall and Century Park to Castle Downs).
In order to grow ridership, public transit must be safe, frequent, and reliable. The Valley Line South East offers this and more. See you on the platform!
Michael Janz is the City Councillor for Ward papastew. You can receive his City Hall newsletter via michaeljanz.ca/updates