The administration for the city of Edmonton suggests declaring war on drivers in an effort to increase transit ridership over the next decade..In a brief to council, one of the recommendations calls to double the costs of operating a car, such as tolls and fuel taxes, quadrupling the price of parking creating “select car-free corridors” in the central districts..Despite public transit ridership being at 45 per cent of 2019 levels, mainly owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, the city remains committed to providing reliable and safe service for riders..The interim report advocates for more investment in public transit so 50 per cent of the city would be using it as the population hits two million. Currently, the number of users is nine per cent..Ward 3 Councillor Jon Dziadyk cautioned the report conveys information rather than a direct call to action..“Though there seems to be an anti-car attitude on city council, it’s all in a desire to accommodate another million people,” said Dziadyk..The report said fare reductions on transit could produce some increased ridership..The report recommends “repurposing traffic lanes to create dedicated transit lanes”, increase bus arrivals to every 10 minutes on key routes, and increase the number of park and ride stalls..Dziadyk said while the report recognizes the expensiveness of extending Edmonton suburbs indefinitely to accommodate two million people, there is also a desire to have people drive less. .“To make transit more accessible, we cannot make driving more difficult,” said Dziadyk..“I disagree with the approach outlined by the report because if people don’t want to take transit because driving is more convenient, the proper response should not be to make driving more inconvenient but to increase accessibility to public transit..“Ultimately, Edmonton has to be an attractive place for people to live. People come here for work, and right now, our economy is struggling. We have to be very careful about how we treat people and how we impact their daily lives because we will not have the type of growth projections that we previously anticipated by making people’s lives less convenient.”.With the city committed to environmentally sustainable policies that reduce total emissions, Dziadyk said “a bus going around Edmonton without patrons is producing a lot more emissions than a compact, fuel-efficient, modern, newer car.”.Dhaliwal is the Western Standard‘s Edmonton correspondent
