C-Line Transit

I remember when I still lived in Leduc how odd it was when they first introduced the C Line to see Edmonton Transit busses cruising the streets. Even though I no longer reside in Leduc I still use the 590 occasionally to go and see my mother and it’s nice to see it has evolved over time.
It’s unfortunate they cut the service out to the airport and residents are now stuck using overpriced cabs yet again but lack of demand has the tendency to cause things like that. It’s nice to see they have expanded the service out to Nisku as it will open up job opportunities for people but I find when I come in from Edmonton that having to do the Nisku loop can make the trip seem EXTREMELY long. I think they almost need to increase the size of their bus fleet and offer separate service to out there and increase the frequency of the trips.
They still have a long way to go with this as it is still only a peak hour service and we aren’t living in a world anymore where everybody only works Monday-​Friday 9 – 5. I think they could draw people in for weekend service that want to check out the malls in Edmonton but as far as I know it is only something that has been discussed and not planned to be implemented. Also they desperately need some stops into the older neighbourhoods. It has always been a sore spot for me personally that residents spoke of needing public transportation for years but the city only implemented it after more high income neighbourhoods were built.
I may be an Edmonton resident now but my heart belongs to Leduc. I love my city and have a number of great memories growing up there. I hope for the implementation of better service and for it’s continued growth and prosperity.

Last year was the first year of the C-​Line buses between Leduc and Edmonton. Last year my big beef with the transit was the schedule, more times needed to be added in order to accomodate all the people that need to travel between Leduc and Edmonton and vice versa. Having switched campuses this year I was initially worried whether I’d even be able to use the C-​Line, but they added earlier times in the morning. Plus they have a last bus leaving Century Park at 6:10pm, which means I don’t have to worry about missing the bus when I leave the school at 5pm (before the last bus left at 5:30 and I never made it back to Century Park before then). I think more times during the day (perhaps once per hour from 9am to 4pm) as well as some service on the weekends, is still needed. I’d love it if the bus ran in the evening, maybe until 10pm too, since I have a 6pm-​9pm class next semester, but I doubt that will happen.
The route has changed a bit, and more stops in Leduc were added which I think is great. There are a couple new stops on 50 Street, and 50 Ave. My only gripe with the new stops are they’re still not listed on the ETS website or on the buslink line, meaning you can’t figure out exactly what time the bus is supposed to be there. Hopefully they will get added to the database soon.
The C-​line no longer runs to the airport, but ETS has their own airport shuttle. Besides the C-​line route to the airport was a little ridiculous. From what I understand it would go from Century Park in Edmonton to Leduc (and all the stops) and then before heading back to Edmonton would go to the airport. So anyone trying to get to the airport would be on the bus (from Edmonton) for about an hour. It’d be great if Leduc could have public transit to the airport, but I get that this isn’t a necessity.
The other great change about the C-​line is the price. I believe regular tickets are the same price, but students (with a U-​Pass) now only pay $ 1/​one-​way. Since I only have classes three days a week I’m only spending $ 6/​week on the C-​Line, which is a lot better than spending $ 45 for the month pass like I used to.
Improvements could still be made, but things are a lot better than they used to be.

The C-​line started running last fall, and I think it’s about time we had some public transportation out to the airport. The C-​line runs from Century Park to the airport and into Leduc every half hour or so at peak times. It costs $ 5 each way (or there are passes if you ride daily). I found it to be surprisingly fast.
My only problem with the C-​line is the frequency. Hopefully they’ll get enough usage soon to start thinking about running this service all day. But in the meantime, I’m booking flights out of town for around 8 or 9 am, just so I can take the bus.