Town of Stony Plain Regional Transit Project - Connecting Small Town and Regional Bus Routes (reducing single occupancy vehicle travel)

The Town of Stony Plain will pilot regionally integrated transit over a period of one year. It will purchase and operate two gas-powered buses that will connect Stony Plain commuters to the Edmonton Metropolitan Region. This should result in fewer kilometres travelled in single occupancy vehicles and a reduction in related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. After the pilot is completed, the town will use a triple bottom line approach to analyze the results and evaluate the feasibility of expanding the transit system. Performance measures that will be tracked and evaluated include the following: GHG emission reduction; number of single occupancy vehicle travel trips and kilometres displaced; operating cost per revenue hour; operating cost per passenger trip; operating cost recovery; and passenger trips per capita. Stony Plain currently provides no public transportation services. The Tri-Municipal Regional Transit Plan (2018) that the town completed in collaboration with the City of Spruce Grove and Parkland County includes expanding services, such as higher frequency peak commuter service, off-peak commuter service, intra-Stony Plain service and direct service to industrial parks. The Town of Stony Plain would own the buses and infrastructure while the City of Spruce Grove would operate the service. The new service would integrate the use of smart bus/smart fare technology to align with the Edmonton Metropolitan Region’s current system. In addition to being a component of the Tri-Municipal Regional Transit Plan, this initiative is supported by the town’s Municipal Development Plan (2013). Innovative aspects: Smart bus/smart fare technology creates opportunities to partner with regional stakeholders and achieve efficiencies through integration while increasing accessibility and convenience for citizens (e.g., a single card, cell phone, etc. could be used to access different types of services). The smart bus/smart fare system is expected to greatly increase the potential for connectivity between transit systems throughout the Edmonton Metropolitan Region. Riders will be able to use the transit system to travel longer distances between communities and then use other transportation modes (e.g., walking, cycling or ride-hailing services) to travel the “last few miles.” Replicability: The inter-municipal partnership model the town has established may be a model for other small communities near large urban centres that want to replicate similar cost-shared service extensions piggybacking on existing services in their urban areas. Environmental benefits: • The service could displace up to 8,652 return trips in single occupancy vehicles travelling between Stony Plain and Edmonton annually • Displacement of up to 778,680 kilometres of single occupancy vehicle travel annually • Reduction in GHG emissions by 133 tonnes annually Economic benefits: • The service could help employers tap into wider labour markets by improving the mobility of potential employees, such as lower-income residents, youth, the working elderly and residents of adjacent communities • Transit may attract tourists who might not otherwise visit the community • The service would leverage Stony Plain’s downtown redevelopment strategy with its concentration of shops, businesses and housing that could be a hub for public transit services between communities Social benefits: • Transit offers independence and mobility to people who are non-drivers by choice or necessity, such as some seniors, children, students, workers, lower-income families and individuals with impairments • Transit would improve access to recreational and physical activities through direct connection to key regional and recreational infrastructure, such as the Trans-Alta Leisure Centre and the Horizon Stage (Project description from original funding application)