Just as transit enthusiasts are using memes to spread love for Edmonton's bus and LRT routes as well as combat negativity, a unique research project has returned to the city to ask transit riders what might be different if wellbeing was designed into the system.
The various accounts have posted a video of the #4 bus set to Chappell Roan's music, a meme bragging about being a passenger princess on the #8 bus, and a reel personifying Edmonton Transit Service, St. Albert Transit, and Strathcona County buses as divas walking into the University of Alberta bus loop.
With more than 2,500 followers, @iloveetsroute4 was among the first Edmonton transit fan accounts, according to Tee, the person running it (Taproot has agreed to keep Tee's identity anonymous because they don't want to be recognized on the bus, and for professional reasons).
"Given how social media is affecting our younger generations, it's really important that we use these internet trends, and audios, and editing style, and memes to really engage people to use transit or spark their curiosity about trying it out," Tee told Taproot.
"My biggest goal is to just spread the love for it, and just unleash my creativity through that love," Tee said. "And the second thing is maybe trying to combat the negativity, because I know that in the last couple of years, ETS has faced a lot of scrutiny and lots of bad perception about the buses and the LRT, so I want to help build the positive images back up."
Tee moved to Edmonton from Saskatchewan in 2024, but first took the #4 bus on a school trip to Edmonton in 2017. "I just really loved the bus route because it feels very long, it covers so many nice areas. So as a kid, I really loved that," they said. "It's one of the routes with the best ridership in the city as well, but people seem to be taking it for granted, not taking it seriously."
Tee, who's in their mid-twenties, said they ride the #4 every day, and thought creating a fan account would spread love and awareness for it. In addition to the posts personifying the #8 route and #4 route as girlfriends or ranking the city's high-frequency bus routes, the account also has an informative post about air conditioners on buses and will post a list of hidden gems along the route. "It gives the entertainment for people, it gives laughs for people, but it also brings the awareness about that bus route and sparks a curiosity in people," Tee said.
The fan accounts are now proliferating. Tee said some of the people who are running the new accounts told them that the #4 account was their inspiration. "I feel really flattered, and I know that there are people out there that love transit as well," they said. "It felt like I have changed something, I have created a positive change, and then maybe, like, started a movement."
Research project 'overlaps' with fan accounts
While Tee is working to create positive movement for transit, a unique research project is returning to Edmonton to imagine what transit would look like if togetherness and wellbeing were an essential part of the system.
Auricle, which is run by Vancouver-based social design agency InWithForward, will host an event on Aug. 16 where participants brainstorm with fellow transit supporters. The event is a continuation of Auricle's 2023 listening projects at transit centres, where people shared anecdotes about taking transit — both positive and negative. Tickets can be reserved with a $15 deposit that will be refunded after the event, and lunch will be provided.
Transit enthusiasts are using internet culture and trends to spread love and awareness for Edmonton's buses and LRT lines. (Instagram)
"We do believe that transit is a wonderful opportunity for connectedness, and we've heard a lot of stories over the last two years as part of our prototype Auricle, and we wanted to share what we've learned," Clarence Kitt, a designer with InWithForward, told Taproot. "Participants get to listen to stories (about) what we've learned, and brainstorm together future ideas of what could happen in transit."
The event will start at Stadium Station, where participants will board Auricle's "magic school bus" (a chartered ETS bus). "We won't reveal a surprise, but expect a different take on what the bus experience might feel like," Kitt said.
There will be a tour that ends at Parkdale-Cromdale Community League, where participants will brainstorm together. "We kind of want the experience there to feel more like a carnival, where there's different stations for people to explore what matters or is of interest in them," Kitt said. "Then there'll be moments of convergence where people can come together and share."
Rochelle Nieuwenhuis, a community co-researcher with InWithForward, said she expects to hear ideas that encourage transit riders to feel comfortable engaging with one another. "Perhaps it's through games, or perhaps it's through a designated social car of the LRT where there's one LRT car that is for people who want to be chatty, recognizing that that's not for everybody, right?" she said. "What if there were stranger picnics?"
Kitt also mulled a "transit super-ambassador," or an enthusiast who would greet people in transit spaces and act as a guide.
The folks at Auricle said they find the new fan accounts delightful. "It's really special — it inspires this real feeling of curiosity and delight for me, because while we're not able to say why they're setting up these accounts, I think there's an overlap in (our goals of) opening up different narratives of transit," Kitt said. "The fact that there's an account that celebrates the joy and humor and delight and memes and about transit just is a different type of story."
Auricle's research project, including the listening sessions and the transit jam, were funded by a $136,574 grant from the City of Edmonton.