Edmonton Transit app's premium features to become free under city plan

Edmonton riders will get Transit app's paid features at no cost if city council approves a plan that passed its executive committee Friday. The Montreal-based Transit Royale app currently costs $5 monthly or $25 annually for features like real-time vehicle tracking, trip planning ahead of time, and expanded route options.

The 4-year partnership will cost roughly $540,000 annually from Edmonton Transit Service's budget, and the city isn't requesting extra funding to implement it. In exchange, the city gains daily insights and usage data to improve the system faster.

Mayor Andrew Knack said at city hall Friday that transit ridership is at all-time highs, particularly on buses. "Let's make sure we're giving people the best experience possible," Knack told reporters. "The data that you get allows us to better improve the system in a much more expedited way."

Emily Stremel, chair of Edmonton Transit Riders advocacy group, said removing the barrier matters for people deciding whether to invest in transit planning. "Even if somebody has the $5, they might not find it useful to necessarily put that $5 toward an app," Stremel said. "The city covering that for us shows that they care about riders, they care about taking the easiest path possible for riders to plan their trips."

Stremel uses the app for bike route planning alongside transit trips, expanding its usefulness beyond just bus and LRT navigation. Ottawa and Calgary have already implemented Transit Royale sponsorship; agencies sponsoring the app see an average 91 per cent increase in app opens and 25 per cent more trips taken by existing users, according to Transit reports.

The plan requires a vote by full city council. No date has been set for that vote.