About 250 Edmontonians got a sneak peek of the Blatchford Gate LRT Station, which is not currently operational, as part of a celebratory launch of a new transit advocacy group.
Edmonton Transit Riders have been pushing for better and more efficient transit service in the city. They’ve been operating as a group for the past six months, but wanted to mark their creation of the organization official by hosting an event.
Daniel Witte, Edmonton Transit Riders board chair, says it was a chance for Edmontonians to meet with the organization to have their voice heard.
“Just talking to people about their experiences and trying to make sure that we get a complete view of the community wants and needs before we go to advocate to the city, the province, or the federal government about how to make public transit better in the city,” Witte explained.
The group says they’ve been engaging with transit users and city officials on ways to improve the transit network. For the past few months they’ve been listening to shared experiences and struggles, and brainstorming opportunities for growth for the transit network.
“For our entire history, Edmonton Transit has really just been playing catch-up. We don’t have the infrastructure or service where we need it when people move in,” Witte explained.
“What we want to make sure as an organization is say, ‘Hey this should be involved and it’s one of the first steps when we want people to live somewhere’,” he added.
The Edmonton Transit Service provided the event with a charter train that took off from Stadium LRT Station around noon Sunday on the Capitol line, transferring to the Metro Lane, and carried passengers to the Blatchford Gate LRT Station.
Construction for that station completed in December 2023, but the city says it will stay closed until neighbourhood development progresses in the area.
Edmontonians in attendance dreamt of what the future of Edmonton’s north side could look like.
“It’s not going to be a field forever. I want when people decide, ‘Am I going to get a new house in Summerside or am I going to get a new house right beside that already built train station’,” resident Troy Pavlek said.
“Why did they build it? But then you kind of think they built it because they know things will come,” resident Maria Coccimigelio explained. “To visualize businesses and homes, I think this station would be wonderful.”
This event is running as part of Canada Transit Action Week. Advocates across Canada are calling on the federal government to prioritize funding transit.
Earlier this week, the Canadian government announced the Canadian Federal Transit Fund. Starting in 2026-2027, the government will provide $3 billion annually across the country for transit planning.
Advocates are pushing for those funds to be released earlier, and for the money to include operational costs.
“We need more investments in transit. It really helps affordability. It really helps climate. It really helps make a better city for everyone with less traffic,” Councillor Michael Janz explained.
“It’s about building political power to put pressure on the provincial, federal and municipal governments to say make transit a priority. It’s not just about opening billion-dollar ring roads or putting new highways. It’s about actually investing in transit, as well, that moves hundreds of thousands of people.
“As you can see today, Edmontonians want more transit. They want better transit. We’re going to keep pushing for that.”
Witte says while he’s excited to see the LRT lines expand, he says there needs to be more investment in bus operations, too.
“The transit that you see running down your street or by your workplace, we don’t have enough buses or enough buses funded, or the space for those buses to run the minimum service that our policy says. We really want to see us getting to that point pretty soon, as soon as we can,” Witte said.