The Town has been working hard to bring transit opportunities to Devon and provide residents with a new option for connecting with employment opportunities, post-secondary education or shopping and entertainment in the Edmonton area.
In January 2020, Town of Devon Council voted to join a Regional Transit Services Commission, a group of Edmonton Metropolitan Region municipalities with a similar goal – to find affordable and efficient transit for their communities.
In January 2021, this Commission received approval from the Government of Alberta to legally form. The municipalities included in the newly formed Edmonton Metropolitan Transit Services Commission (EMTSC) include Devon, Edmonton, Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Beaumont, Leduc, St. Albert, and Fort Saskatchewan. The EMTSC is currently aiming to bring a regional transit model that would service all eight municipalities by the fall of 2022.
The Town has been working with ETS on a pilot project for several months to bridge the gap from the launch of the EMTSC and bring a bus service to Devon. This work is now almost complete with bus service slated for Devon as early as this fall. There will be no charge during the pilot period to ride from Devon to the City and back, however ETS fares in Edmonton will apply for additional transit (LRT, busses to additional destinations).
The pilot is currently planned to run for 18 months and will be evaluated throughout to determine the future level of service for the community.
In June, the Town ran a Transit Survey asking:
This survey received 200 responses and offered some great insight into what the community was looking for in a transit route in Devon. The survey results were presented to Devon Council at their Aug. 5, 2021 Committee of the Whole Meeting.
Click here to see the results from Transit Survey #1
Following the presentation of the first survey on Aug, 5, Council asked for a bit more clarity from the community about what their primary reason to use transit would be and where they would like to see a final route go.
This second survey received 250 responses and was presented to Devon Council at their Sept. 13, 2021 Council Meeting.
Click here to see the results from Transit Survey #2