Connecting residents in the Edmonton Metropolitan Region through public transit leads to less traffic congestion, lower carbon emissions, higher productivity and greater social and economic opportunities. Regional collaboration helps to ensure a coordinated and convenient public transit service across the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which includes the following municipalities:
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Visit the Regional Service page for more information about regional routes and fares.
Memorandum of Understanding
In January 2024, Chief Administrative Officers (CAOs) from municipalities in the Edmonton Metro Region signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for a new, collaborative framework intended to improve regional transit services.
Collaboration to improve regional transit is built upon established positive working relationships, existing agreements between regional transit providers and a history of collaboration and mutual support. In contrast to previous attempts to grow the regional transit network, the MOU outlined the following principles:
- Municipalities retain sole control of their assets and workforce.
- Municipalities retain sole control of their public transit service decisions.
- Municipalities have mutual respect for each others’ values, policies, areas of expertise and jurisdictions.
- Municipalities will continue to seek to make efficient use of existing resources.
- The CAO of each municipality will be responsible for achieving the desired level of collaboration.
Through this MOU, municipalities in the Edmonton Metro Region are demonstrating their commitment to working collaboratively to better connect riders to their destinations throughout the region.
Regional Transit Roundtables
Municipal CAOs, as well as local transit leaders, meet regularly to discuss regional transit needs, look for efficiencies to support better regional integration and keep lines of communication open.
This includes looking at sub-regional agreements, more integrated trip planning tools and better connections to the Edmonton International Airport.
Recent Improvements/ Enhancements
- Arc regional fare payment system rollout
- Strathcona County Transit Route 411 stop added in Edmonton’s Cloverdale neighbourhood
- Sharing of St. Albert’s Nakî Transit Centre for ETS special events service
- Beaumont Transit providing service to Mill Woods Transit Centre
- Service added between Fort Saskatchewan and Sherwood Park
Canada Public Transit Fund
In July 2024, Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada (HICC) announced the Canada Public Transit Fund, an investment of $3 billion per year over the first 10 years to expand public transit and active transportation infrastructure across Canada. Funding will be provided within three program streams: Baseline Funding, Metro-Region Agreements and Targeted Funding.
The Canada Public Transit Fund will provide stable, long-term funding to address objectives related to transportation mode-shift to transit and active transportation, increasing housing supply and affordability, climate resilience and improving mobility for Indigenous Peoples and equity-deserving communities.
The City of Edmonton and several regional partners are currently developing an application for the Metro-Region Agreements stream.
Frequently Asked Questions
Regional transit collaboration provides a venue to identify and prioritize service gaps and develop solutions to address these gaps.
Each municipality is looking at possibilities for sub-regional agreements to focus on improving connectivity where riders need it most.
This collaboration can also be leveraged to coordinate regional applications for federal and provincial funding to support transit infrastructure improvements.
Based on direction provided by City Councils in 2023, the regional CAOs decided this initiative was the most effective way to move forward on regional transit collaboration. This builds upon a solid foundation of successful regional transit projects including the U-Pass program and the Arc fare payment system.
This collaborative approach allows each transit system to continue to meet the unique needs of each municipality, while also advancing shared regional goals. It will help identify opportunities to provide better connections, use existing services and make no-cost or low-cost adjustments to existing services that improve the rider experience. While municipalities will not increase or decrease their level of investment or workforce size, there are frequent opportunities to adjust services with each schedule change using existing resources.
All regional collaboration is funded with the existing transit budgets of each municipality. There is no additional cost associated with regional collaboration. Municipalities will work together to create agreements and work through the economics of each agreement but any costs associated with a service will be between the collaborating municipalities.
The MOU includes all of the municipalities in the Edmonton Metro Region that currently provide transit service, as well as some that are contemplating introducing transit service in the future. Other municipalities in the region are welcome to join the collaboration if they so choose.
Public transit plays a key role in creating sustainable, inclusive and prosperous communities across Canada. The Canada Public Transit Fund is an historic investment in transit as Canada's first permanent public transit fund.
This will provide a reliable funding source to build and maintain important transit infrastructure in the Edmonton Metropolitan Region. The City of Edmonton aims to use this funding program to support the continued implementation of our Mass Transit Network, replace critical transit infrastructure like aging fleets and facilities, and enhance our active transportation network.