More than 30 per cent of the drivers who use Edmonton roads do not live in the city.
These are the findings of a report heading to council’s executive committee next week that delves into the factors contributing to the City of Edmonton’s funding shortfalls.
Edmonton sits in the heart of a growing metropolitan region, which sees an integration of several surrounding municipalities with people and services flowing throughout the region. The report states that the region’s multi-municipal structure presents fiscal inequities for the City of Edmonton.
The report points to a “free rider” problem, which it describes as people and businesses from surrounding municipalities that rely and benefit from the resources, goods and services within Edmonton without paying for their costs.
“City services and infrastructure are utilized by residents and businesses of Edmonton’s surrounding municipalities, but the city is not able to capture revenues from these users, as property tax is limited to properties within Edmonton’s boundaries,” the report states.
The city’s road network is offered as an example of the free-rider effect.
On any given day, 32 per cent of the traffic on city roads comes from regional residents — those who do not call Edmonton home. The remaining 68 per cent of drivers live in Edmonton.
“I found it shocking. I was really surprised,” papastew Coun. Michael Janz said. “We as Edmontonians are paying more but getting less.
“We’ve heard a lot about a free-rider problem on public transit where people are riding and not paying, but we have a major free-rider problem on our roadways.”
Conversely, the report found that about 9.1 per cent of the drivers on regional roadways are Edmonton residents.
“These figures demonstrate a disproportionate use of city roadways by regional residents,” the report states. “The city provides a road network capacity that accommodates the demands of the Edmonton metropolitan area population, but generates property tax to support these services only from Edmonton-based properties.
“It could be argued that there is an overprovision of road network infrastructure by the city of Edmonton to accommodate a broader metropolitan population… If Edmonton did not have a large regional population, its road network would be significantly smaller, with lower operating and renewal costs.”
The report estimates the average annual renewal requirements between 2024 and 2032 to maintain the city’s road network is $296.5 million. The annual operating expenditures required to service Edmonton’s roadway in 2023 was $165.6 million. This includes bridge and road maintenance, snow and ice control, street cleaning, traffic control, on-street parking and traffic safety.
Janz said this problem is not uncommon for major regional hubs. In terms of possible solutions, the councillor said other jurisdictions have implemented parking differentials where residents of a municipality pay a cheaper rate than those who don’t live in the city. He also pointed to toll roads where residents don’t pay the toll.
“Other jurisdictions have looked at creative solutions to try and recover some of the costs,” Janz said. “The easiest solution here is just for the provincial government to come to the table and treat Edmonton as a true regional hub.”
In a statement, Alberta’s Ministry of Transportation and Economic Corridors said “while Alberta does not enforce a ban on toll roads, our government will not support increasing fees or adding tolls that make life less affordable for Albertans.
“Additionally, penalizing out-of-towners for visiting our largest cities would only hurt local businesses and damage our economy,” a department spokesperson said.
“To support the expansion and maintenance of local roads and infrastructure in the Edmonton region, Alberta’s government is investing $2.2 billion over three years in road and bridge construction projects and municipal grants. This investment ensures that infrastructure improvements benefit all users without adding undue financial burdens on Albertans or local businesses.”
Driver Ken Roberts lives in Drayton Valley and comes into Edmonton every couple of weeks. He believes toll roads only for people who live outside of the city may deter people from coming into the city.
“Parking fees? You have to pay to park most places. If it’s a toll road for everybody to upgrade roads, I think that’s not a bad option,” Roberts said.
“There’s no real good solution. Nobody wants to pay anymore than they have to.”
Janz admits these are long-term problems that will not be fixed overnight.
The report will be presented to members of executive committee on Wednesday.