Edmonton airport bus route 747 to continue and expand service

City councillors voted Tuesday to keep bus service to the Edmonton International Airport going and expand route 747.

“What Edmonton Transit is proposing is to add a small loop on the 747 to serve the outlet mall this spring and the Costco in the fall when it opens,” Sarah Feldman, the director of planning and scheduling, said.

“It would make those stops on the way, leaving the terminal on the way back to Century Park so it wouldn’t be an inconvenience to passengers going from Century Park to the airport to get a flight.

“It would just be a few short stops on the way back from the airport to stop at the commercial development.”

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Those service changes will come in May.

READ MORE: New Costco opening in 2018 near Leduc and Edmonton International Airport 

Changes to route 747 have been agreed to by all of the partners involved in the airport accord. The cost of the bus will revert back to $5 in May, after it was bumped up to $10 in February.

Edmonton is contributing $330,000 to offset the fare reduction and keep it at $5.

READ MORE: 747 Edmonton airport bus plan confirmed without final cost sharing agreement 

The interim agreement will remain in place for the rest of the year. In 2019, it’s expected a full service will be in place.

Edmonton, as well as the City of Leduc, Leduc County and the Airport Authority are still negotiating on permanent funding which is expected to be sorted out this spring.

City staff are working with other partners and their transit systems on the finished product.

“We’re working towards timing the schedule so that there could be transfers at the airport terminal between all the services so that they would align as much as possible,” Feldman said.

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READ MORE: EIA funding for 747 bus route to Edmonton airport expires

“Seventy-six per cent of the people who work at the airport come from Edmonton and everybody else comes from other places in the region,” Mayor Don Iveson said. “There are around 6,000 jobs today at the airport and there will be 2,000 jobs added within the next year as so many of these new investments come online.”

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