Edmonton city council votes to study LRT fare gates despite cost doubts

Edmonton city council narrowly passed a motion Tuesday to investigate whether fare gates could reduce fare evasion on the LRT, directing city administration to draft a budget proposal for deliberations in November.

Ward Ipiihkoohkanipiaohtsi Coun. Jon Morgan moved the motion, which passed 7-6. The proposal focuses on cost recovery rather than safety. "I worked, myself, for Edmonton Transit for nearly 20 years," Morgan said. "I saw a lot of fare evasion, I saw a lot of delays to service. So I think there's some cost recovery there that we could be taking advantage of." Morgan's plan would implement a pilot in one LRT station, likely downtown.

Transit currently recovers approximately 25 per cent of costs from fares, according to Morgan. "As we look at expanding transit, as we look at keeping our costs low for everyday riders,… [we should be] making sure that we maximize every dollar."

Mayor Andrew Knack supported the motion but flagged deep reservations. "Extremely unlikely I'll support this at budget, but appreciating we're going to get some new information. There would have to be something exceptionally compelling in that new report that would make me change my mind on this."

Ward Anirniq Coun. Erin Rutherford opposed. "I'm not interested in this even being an item to consider at budget with all of the other transit pressures and priorities that we have."

This represents a reversal from October 2024, when council rejected a similar two-year pilot after a report pegged the cost at $7.2 million and questioned whether safety benefits justified the expense. Coun. Aaron Paquette pointed to that recent decision Tuesday: "We knew the cost, and we knew the rationale for why it was not a fit for Edmonton, which is why it was not supported by council."

Morgan also carried a unanimously approved motion directing city administration to produce a detailed report with ridership numbers and fare compliance rates on both Metro and Capital LRT lines.