Partly a YEG post, partly an ETS post of my experience taking transit to and from the airport around the long weekend:
Took the bus in from the airport Friday. There were 44 people on board the 1545 departure with a few people getting on and off at the outlet mall. Returned to the airport Tuesday at 1105 and there were 26 people on board, with some standing. I don't know the mix of passengers and staff, but fair to say there were both. There was even one person going on to Leduc.
A few of observations:
- The stops at either end really need some love. In both cases, I had the choice of waiting in the hot sun and waiting several metres away and risking not getting a seat. Not pleasant either way.
- Signage is ok, not great at both ends and could really use more prominence at the airport. A lot of passengers walked around looking a bit lost before finding their way
- Access is still slightly out of the way at both ends
- Because of those factors, the service still feels like a temporary add-on as opposed to a viable transportation option to the city centre
- The service was fast, but got stuck in traffic at the 23rd Ave interchange due to an accident
- The ARC machine at the airport is nowhere near the stop, which really should be fixed
- I don't know ridership on the route, but from what I saw, ETS should be looking at a 30-minute frequency through the daytime. In my case, I had the choice of arriving 2.5 hours early for my flight or a little more than 1 hour before because of a quirk in the midday scheduling. Considering the bus was essentially full, I got the impression additional frequencies would be justified
- Most people I saw board paid the $5 fare, which is a nice, simple and easy cash fare. Though for a visitor like me, the lack of a non-cash option is a challenge