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Night Ride Late Night Transit Pilot Delayed Until January

September 28, 2011

65 per cent of survey respondents support initiative

The Night Ride late night transportation pilot won’t hit the streets until January 2012 after a decision to delay the start of the service, given that one month of the planned three-month pilot has already passed.

“A decision was made to delay the pilot until January so that we have a full three month term to fully evaluate the pilot,” says Angela Turner, Program Manager for Responsible Hospitality Edmonton. “This also gives us more time to share our evaluation criteria and plan with stakeholders and to better promote the initiative to potential passengers.”

The planned September 2 start of the pilot was delayed to provide more consultation and information to communities along the route. In addition to a September 7th public meeting, the City conducted an online and paper survey that received 272 responses. Sixty per cent of the respondents live in communities along the Night Ride route.

Turner says the survey found that 65 per cent of respondents either strongly supported or supported the pilot. “We also found that 77 per cent of respondents support late night transit in the city and that a majority indicate if a service was available they were likely to use it,” she says. “This reflects the input previously received from other stakeholders.”

Other key information learned from the recent survey was that 65 per cent of people were satisfied with the information they have on the pilot while a minority indicated they wanted more information in areas such as safety and security issues and the route. Turner says they will provide more information to address any additional questions and that stakeholders will be engaged in the pilot’s evaluation.

The Night Ride late night transit service includes the provision of bus service along Whyte Avenue (westbound only) to the University and Southgate Transit Centre from 1:30 a.m. to approximately 3:30 a.m. The pilot is an effort to provide a safe way home for patrons and workers and address congestion issues on Whyte Avenue at closing time.

Additional information on the pilot and complete survey results are available at Responsible Hospitality Edmonton or Night Ride. Citizens can also call 311 or email concerns or feedback to nightride@edmonton.ca.

For more information:

Ronna Bremer

Title	Strategic Advisor, Corporate Communications
Telephone	780-944-7753 780-405-6484 (cell)