EDMONTON – Transit service to Edmonton International Airport is “cleared for takeoff” after a council committee recommended funding Tuesday to try out the program for three years.
Edmonton Transit and the airport authority want to start daily bus service from Century Park LRT station next May, running every half-hour at peak times and once an hour off peak in regular vehicles equipped with luggage racks.
The cash fare would be $5, or a $100 monthly pass, with no transfers to the rest of the ETS system.
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Most of the passengers are expected to come from the 5,000 people who work at the airport
“Just about every city I fly to, I look for that public transit option when I land,” Coun. Don Iveson said.
“I’m very happy I won’t have to look any longer for that option in our city. … We’re cleared for takeoff.”
Edmonton has the only major airport in Canada without public transit, officials said.
The scheme will cost taxpayers $866,000 over three years.
Over the same period, the airport authority has promised to contribute $1.5 million, and fares from the 10 passengers expected per trip would provide $1.9 million.
The proposal must still be approved by city council in December as part of budget deliberations.
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