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CplKlinger said:
I never said they were asking for that, and I did not say the province has to "solve homelessness" or addictions before transit will be safe or clean. Nor did I say that the city shouldn't hire more peace officers or janitors (which I am on record here as advocating for more, and contacting councilors saying as much). What I am saying is that no matter how many peace or police officers we have, they will still just be kicking people out to move to the next station - at best with a few hours delay for booking them first.


The city has grown the TPO compliment from ~80 in 2022 to 130 by this fall. They made the Covid-era enhanced transit cleaning permanent, and onboarded dedicated LRV cleaners. They're allocating some CRL funding to renovate downtown LRT entrances (long overdue). Fare checks and warnings/tickets have spiked, and some of the new TPOs are on dedicated teams whose sole purpose is literally to ride the LRT, fare check people, and monitor for incidents. The city has even pumped tens of millions into temporary shelter space and supportive/affordable housing.


My whole point was that those practical steps, while important, are band-aids that we need to manage our expectations for. I'm not saying that the city bears no responsibility here, I'm saying that it's time people only fixate on what the municipality can do and not discuss the provincial aspect at play. Otherwise, accept that vandalism will continue to outpace the maintenance budget, stations and trains will continue to be used as shelters no matter how many times people are kicked out, and downtown stops/stations in particular will continue to be in a similar state to how they are now - unless you're willing to pay much more in taxes to hire the hundreds of TPOs we need to have 24/7 coverage at each and every LRT station/stop.



Respectfully, feelings don't fund solutions. The whole point of this forum is that we can take the time to dig beyond the surface. This isn't a conversation taking place at the actual stop, this is a conversation happening well after the fact when we have the time and ability to actually think things through.


Deflecting it downward doesn't solve anything either. Again, my whole point is that people should be emailing their MLAs about this just as much as they email their councilors, because all have a role to play here. People can excuse provincial inaction all they want because "UCP hate city so why try?" but that's not going to magically give Edmonton the money it needs to fund all of the resources needed to address the disorder and cleanliness issues. One councilor described the situation to me as "whack-a-mole." People get removed from one station, they have nowhere to go so they just move to another. And if they're doing drugs or broke some glass? That's a minor offence and the jails are full so best the court can do is give them a summons.


Sure, but let me be clear: the homeless population nearly tripled after Covid, and never went back down. We continue to be a dumping ground for regional communities and police forces. I've supported, and will continue to support, increased municipal investment in transit safety and cleanliness. But I'm just tired of these conversations only focusing on what the city should do in response to these issues, and not what the province should do to stop them from continuing to occur at the rate they are. Not completely. Just less than they are now.
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Why is Translink safe and ETS not?

Drug issues, homelessness, progressive leadership in council for the last 15 years. What’s the reason it’s so, so much worse here?

Ridership? Fare gates? Station design? Policing?
 
The_Cat said:
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"By year end, track from Lewis Farms to Stoney Plain Road will be complete, allowing us to work on the final connections."

I wonder if this includes Stoney Plain Road itself, or just up to the 156 St./SPR intersection? Either way, it's exciting to see this take shape, and I'm glad that things are going well so far.
 
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A more direct way to get to WEM without dealing with parking might actually get more people to use it. Lots of people won’t even think about taking a bus there, but they see trains differently and are more open to that. Being able to just hop on a train straight to WEM sounds pretty appealing once it’s up and running. wondering how long the ride from downtown to WEM will take
 
Actually I love the idea of the LRT now at West Edmonton Mall. I will now be able to park at Davies and then take the train all the way to the mall. Way way more convenient, no longer do I have to waste my time looking for parking. I hope the mall will be smart enough to at least provide a dedicated pedestrian passageway from the station to the mall itself. I would even be happy if it were simply a dedicated sidewalk through the parking lot.
 
Edmcowboy11 said:
Actually I love the idea of the LRT now at West Edmonton Mall. I will now be able to park at Davies and then take the train all the way to the mall. Way way more convenient, no longer do I have to waste my time looking for parking. I hope the mall will be smart enough to at least provide a dedicated pedestrian passageway from the station to the mall itself. I would even be happy if it were simply a dedicated sidewalk through the parking lot.
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If it’s covered and heated. THEN it’s a no brainer.
 
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