Edmonton Minute: Council Back, Transit Cuts, and Snow Clearing Pilot Problems

Edmonton Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of Edmonton politics

This Week In Edmonton:

• City Hall gets back to regular business today with a Community and Public Services Committee meeting from 9:30 am to 5:00 pm. The Committee will discuss a public washroom program update, the 2020-2021 Edmonton Heritage Council Annual Report, and the Heritage Community Investment Program Operational Grant results for 2022, amongst other things.
  
  
• On Tuesday at 8:30 am, the Agenda Review Committee will meet, followed at 9:30 am by an Urban Planning Committee meeting, which will also deal with heritage issues including financial incentives for non-residential heritage buildings. We’re sensing a theme here.
  
  
• Finally, on Wednesday, the Executive Committee will meet from 9:30 am to 5:00 pm to discuss a nine-item agenda including the 2020-2021 report from the Edmonton Screen Industries Office and confidential settlements regarding property expropriation along the Yellowhead Trail. Perhaps most interestingly, they will have an update on the bus network redesign and on-demand transit. Our eagle-eyed readers pointed out that, since their launch, on-demand buses have seemed to do a lot of waiting around.

Last Week In Edmonton:

• Two unions representing Edmonton’s peace officers said there is a crime wave affecting the public transit system in the city. The unions say the increase in criminal activity is caused by a scaling back of LRT patrols by EPS as well as COVID-19 related staffing shortages. EPS denied decreasing patrols.
  
  
• Edmonton’s new snow clearing methods have residents seeing red as their cars and driveways were blocked in by massive windrows the City has no plans to clear. Damned if you plow, damned if you don’t. Last year, we noted the abysmal state of Edmonton’s snow clearing system, and - according to many - it doesn’t seem the new pilot project of blading down to bare pavement has led to many improvements. What do you think? Has this year been an improvement?
  
  
• The City temporarily cut roughly 300 transit trips as COVID-19 caused bus driver shortages. The City has offered overtime to operators to pick up the slack, however, there is only so much driving one can do in a day. The reduction represents about 2% of total trips over 63 routes.

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