Councillors narrowly approved a motion to break down how much it would cost to launch a fare gate pilot project at one downtown LRT station. The viability of the project will be determined during budget deliberations in November.
Budget outline will be presented during budget deliberations
Sara Sheydwasser · CBC News
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Edmonton city council narrowly passed a motion Tuesday to investigate whether fare gates could substantially limit fare evasion on the city’s LRT system. As a result, city administration will draft a budget proposal to present at budget deliberations in November.
The motion, moved by Ward Ipiihkoohkanipiaohtsi Coun. Jon Morgan, seeks to weigh the cost and benefits of a fare gate pilot project.
“I worked, myself, for Edmonton Transit for nearly 20 years,” Morgan told CBC News in an interview. “I saw a lot of fare evasion, I saw a lot of delays to service.
“So I think there's some cost recovery there that we could be taking advantage of.”
Morgan’s motion proposes that if the pilot moves forward, it would be implemented in one LRT station, likely in the downtown core.
Other councillors' thoughts
Morgan’s motion passed with seven votes for and six against.
“I will be voting no to this,” Ward Anirniq Coun. Erin Rutherford said in Tuesday’s meeting.
“I’m not interested in this even being an item to consider at budget with all of the other transit pressures and priorities that we have.”
Mayor Andrew Knack supported the motion but said he still has reservations about the pilot project itself.
“Extremely unlikely I’ll support this at budget, but appreciating we’re going to get some new information,” he said in the meeting.
“There would have to be something exceptionally compelling in that new report that would make me change my mind on this.”
Morgan also brought forward a motion, that was unanimously carried, to have city administration create a detailed report with ridership numbers and fare compliance rates on the Metro and Capital lines.
Fare gates have been a topic of debate at city hall for decades since the removal of turnstiles from LRT stations.
In October 2024, council reviewed a report detailing a proposal for a similar two-year pilot project with a focus on safety and security. City council decided not to move forward with the pilot at that time, saying that fare gates would not impact safety enough to justify the $7.2-million price tag.
“It feels like just yesterday [we] had this debate,” Coun. Aaron Paquette said in Tuesday’s city council meeting before opposing the motion.
“We knew the cost, and we knew the rationale for why it was not a fit for Edmonton, which is why it was not supported by council.”
Morgan’s pilot proposal is focused more on recouping costs from fare evasion rather than safety.
“Right now we have a pretty low cost recovery for transit, I think I’ve heard a number around 25 per cent,” he told CBC News. “It would be great to boost that with fare gates, making sure that everybody who’s getting on is paying their fare.
“As we look at expanding transit, as we look at keeping our costs low for everyday riders, … [we should be] making sure that we maximize every dollar.”
The funding package is set to be presented and debated at council in November alongside other items proposed for the 2027-2030 budget.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sara is a reporter and editor at CBC News in Edmonton. She is a graduate of NAIT's media communications and production program, and has been a reporter at Taproot Edmonton.
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