City auditor flags unreliable buses and safety concerns on ETS

Edmonton transit riders are enduring long waits forbuses that don't show up on time, and it's getting worse every year, according to the city auditor.

In his report to council, auditor David Wuin said the reliability of the transit system has been dropping steadily since 2012.

• Edmonton transit fares to jump in February

Ideally, buses are supposed arrive between five minutes early and one minute late 90 per cent of the time, but that hasn't happened. In 2014, reliability fell to 58 per cent between December and January.

"Decreased reliability may increase the risk of ridership loss," Wuin wrote in the report. "Actions being taken to address reliability issues are not improving the overall system performance."

ETS management blames the issues on "persons with mobility devices and strollers, construction activity, and increased traffic congestion," according to the report.

They said Edmonton's booming population has also impacted service.

Wuin flagged overcrowding as another issue impacting ETS service. Bus drivers estimate they drive past 21,700 passengers because the buses are too full to pick them up.

He suggested the city look at increasing the number of articulated buses in the fleet to fit more people aboard.

City transit manager Eddie Robar said the city is undertaking a massive review of the transit system, which will address some of the issues in the auditor's report.

"We're taking some of the service off routes that are underperforming and redelivering and redistributing that to routes that have performance issues," Robar said.

He said once more buses are installed with smart bus technology, the city will be able to better track which routes are struggling.

Robar expects to present the findings of the transit review to council in 2017.

More assaults, safety concerns on transit

While Wuin concluded the transit system is run efficiently with fewer collisions than past years, he also found disorder and crime is on the rise onETS.

Incidents of assault, uttering threats, robberies and sexual offences rose 14 per cent from 2011 to 2014.

Meanwhile peace officers reported a 61 per cent increase in incidents of disorder during the same period.

Riders report feeling less safe on the transit system from the end of 2014 to mid 2015. The city's surveys show riders feel least safe at transit stations compared to the rest of the system.

Robar said the city added more peace officers to patrol stations, buses and trains, including six last year. He said that may explain the increased number of recorded incidents.

"We're catching a lot more than we used to," he said.

Wuin did not make a recommendation to improve safety because he said the department already has several initiatives underway.

The city is working on changes to the transit app to allow riders to report safety concerns quickly and on ways to alert passengers to existing ETS safety features.