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Council just voted on this motion (full package here):

"1. That the City of Edmonton proceed to contribute to the Edmonton Metropolitan Transit Service Commission Phase One Service Plan.

2. That Administration prepare an unfunded service package for the Edmonton Metropolitan Transit Services Commission Phase One Service Plan, as outlined in the September 7, 2022, City Operations report CO01179, for consideration during the 2023-2026 budget deliberations. "

There were some big tensions in the meeting about uncertainties (IE the final bill Edmonton will need to pay this fall), paying more for regional services before paying more for local services, whether the regional relationship is too fragile if it "lynches" on this, how much the business model has changed since the original business case (IE bus network redesign taking up all the efficiencies that the EMTSC was supposed to take advantage of), etc.

On other other hand, supporters argued that we should not let perfect be the enemy of good, that Edmonton has worked hard to overcome its stigma as being a poor regional player, and local and regional services should be both invested in - not "either or".

For: Salvador, Rutherford (emphasized that her support for the contribution at budget time is not at all guaranteed), Tang, Stevenson, Hamilton, Cartmell, Rice, Principe, Sohi (Willing for Edmonton to pay more in return for region's cooperation on tackling other issues together, and not a guarantee for his support during fall budget deliberations), Knack
Against: Wright, Paquette, Janz
edmontonjournal.com

Regional transit leaps forward but funding from Edmonton not finalized

Regional transit took a leap forward after a vote at city hall on Monday despite uncertainty around how much Edmonton will ultimately pay
edmontonjournal.com edmontonjournal.com
 
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occidentalcapital said:
Strange that this is so contentious. I mean, its pretty standard big-city fare (excuse the pun) to have a regional transit system. Don't know why this is legitimately so controversial here.
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When I listened to the Executive committee debate, a lot of the questions surrounded cost and control of the routes. I think there are councillors who do not want to give up control of transit.
 
It seems like a no brainer for so many reasons. If the idea is to encourage transit use whether it be for climate, infrastructure savings, or connectivity, then this is a step in the right direction. Sets the stage nicely for LRT potentially moving beyond Edmonton's borders to the airport or St. Albert in the future.
 
Once everything settles in and the transit commission gets to work, I imagine the discussion will stop being "should we or shouldn't we" and they'll be able to focus on further long term integration.
It'll be better when all the bus systems in the region and the LRT are all operated solely by the regional transit commission. Until that point it's going to feel half-assed no matter what. I just hope it doesn't get killed before then.
 
occidentalcapital said:
You would think they would be excited at the prospect of unionizing a new employer in the region and growing their membership and bargaining power.
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It's not that they would even need to do that. In one of the EMTSC's documents they spell out their intention to contract certain services to ETS for operations, and that includes everything operated by ETS currently (Spruce Grove commuter, Fort Saskatchewan commuter) plus the routes that stay within Edmonton's City Limits.
St. Albert Transit via their contracted operator would operate the St. Albert - Edmonton routes.
An interesting change here is that the 205 operates from St. Albert to WEM via Naki. This route is essentially eliminated with Metro Cross as that services Naki, and then follows the current 205 routing to WEM. Naki happens to fall within Edmonton City Limits and the Metro Cross will be operated by ETS, so, one St. Albert route (currently hourly service) will actually move to ETS operation. Union-wise it is a moot point. St. Albert is ATU as well.

Leduc/ 747 I'm also not sure about. It sounds like the "big bus" operations will move to ETS operation. Right now ETS operates the 747 while Leduc contracts for their commuter and On Demand. Leduc commuter uses buses supplied and I believe maintained by Leduc from their own facility. Leduc recently moved to an On Demand model similar to Edmonton. With their existing cutaway bus fleet often down for maintenance, instead of buying a new fleet, they opted to contract out the entire On Demand operation with PWT providing the new buses, which saw PWT purchase the same model of buses used on ETS's On Demand, and they actually numbered them after Edmonton's buses. I would imagine the Leduc On Demand is stored at the Leduc facility, but, I'm not sure who maintains it.

Beaumont was formerly operated by ETS, but, was contracted out to PWT to save money. PWT garages and maintains the Beaumont-owned buses at their south Edmonton garage. The EMTSC's plan is to operate Beaumont buses out of the Leduc facility using cutaway buses. Presumably part of getting better service for Beaumont (all day, plus peak hour airport) is that they'll be giving up their 40' low floors for cutaways until ridership builds up.

Devon is proposed to be contracted out to a third party operator.

My take on it was that ATU really did not do their homework, nor did they care. They want to push their grievances whether they are valid or not.
 
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