The Pulse: April 29, 2026

Transit advocates are urging Edmonton city council to consider the long-term effects of shrinking the southeast transit garage to stay within budget.

"We aren't just making these decisions for the next four years, we are making these decisions for the next decade, for the next 15 or 20 years," said Emily Stremel, chair of Edmonton Transit Riders. "Kicking these things down the road will not solve the problem."

Administration has proposed reducing the scope of the city's next transit garage in southeast Edmonton from 430 buses to between 255 and 290 buses to keep the project within its $367-million budget. Coun. Aaron Paquette introduced a motion earlier this month asking administration to analyze how the reduced capacity would impact transit service in the future and how much it would cost to build the facility to its original capacity.

The city's transit fleet storage strategy, which guides the renewal and development of storage facilities to allow for growth and electrification, identified the southeast garage as a priority, with completion originally targeted for 2027. ETS is out of garage space and can't buy more buses without a place to store them. Stremel said transit garage capacity is further complicated by the age of Edmonton's buses, maintenance space, and other storage considerations. The fleet is old, with some buses more than 10 years past the end of their useful life. Older buses spend more time in maintenance bays and need more spares to replace them when they break down, which in turn requires more parking spaces.

ETS needs about 250 buses over the next four years to replace the oldest vehicles in the fleet, a city report said, but when those new buses come in, they take up garage space as they are inspected and prepared for service. The service also needs 100 buses over four years to address the rapid population growth the city has experienced in recent years. Those 350 buses would only bring the city up to minimum service standards, not expand the service with increased frequency.

"That's not even talking about the service growth," Stremel told Taproot. "That's not talking about the buses that we need to provide the level of service that we want."

ETR will be pushing for the southeast garage, at its original capacity, to be included in the 2027-2030 budget, Stremel said.

Because ETS doesn't have the extra bus capacity to make large changes to the network, it funds service improvements by reallocating service from the lowest-performing routes to those facing the most pressure.

Some routes have excess capacity, making it possible "to take service down a notch without impacting customers or causing overloads," Andrew Gregory, manager of transit planning, said at the Annual Service Plan Awards, hosted jointly by ETS and ETR on April 26. "So in some cases, this is only a two- or three-minute change in frequency, but if the buses are running frequently and at times only half full, this is a better use of resources, and (we are) able to serve more people."

Starting this year, some routes will see frequency reduced, or see service start later or end earlier. Route 522 will be partially replaced with on-demand transit in Capilano and Gold Bar. Last year, ETS replaced conventional transit service with on-demand in some central neighbourhoods. Those service reductions will help increase service in other parts of the city.

• Edmonton city council is reviewing a nearly $64-million shortfall tied to the Quarters Downtown Community Revitalization Levy, a financing program launched in 2012 to fund infrastructure through projected future property tax growth. A city report said revenue expectations for the 20-year levy have fallen to $92.8 million, leaving a projected $63.6 million gap that could be repaid by 2041 if future municipal tax revenues in the area are redirected. The levy has already funded about $100 million in projects including streetscape upgrades, drainage work, Kinistinâw Park and conversions of city-owned buildings into arts spaces, while attracting more than $450 million in private developments that are completed, underway or planned.
• Edmonton city council passed the 2026 tax bylaw on April 28, finalizing a 6.9% tax levy increase. Residential bills will be sent on May 25, with payment due by June 30. Homeowners can expect to pay about $774 per $100,000 of assessed home value, an increase of $53 from the previous year. For a typical single-detached property assessed at $492,500, municipal property taxes will be about $318 per month, funding over $2.5 billion in city services. Education property taxes, collected for the provincial government, also rose by 10.2% for residential properties.
• Patients arriving at the emergency department at Royal Alexandra Hospital will now be limited to one bag and one accompanying visitor under new security measures introduced by Alberta Health Services. Security staff will inspect all bags for weapons or prohibited items, with exemptions for medical equipment and child-care supplies. The policy follows an April 3 stabbing inside the emergency department that left a 42-year-old man with life-threatening injuries and led staff to demand stronger protections. Health officials said reducing visitors is also intended to lower noise levels and ease crowding, while exceptions may be granted for patients needing extra support.
• Parkland RCMP is asking for the public's help to locate a stolen truck and two crated peacocks that were inside when the vehicle was taken from the 60 block of Boulder Boulevard in Stony Plain on April 26. The stolen vehicle is a white 2005 Ford F-350 Crew Cab with B.C. licence plate SY7996. It has aluminum bed rails, a headache rack with a light bar, and a chrome bumper with amber lights. Police are concerned for the animals' well-being and urge anyone with information to contact Parkland RCMP at 825-220-7267 or Crime Stoppers.
• An access to information request shows 41 of Alberta's 63 school divisions removed more than 170 books from library shelves after the provincial government ordered schools to pull materials containing visual depictions of sexual acts, according to reporting from the Investigative Journalism Foundation published by The Tyee. Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides issued the directive, but records indicate school boards interpreted the rules differently, leading to inconsistent book bans across the province. Frequently removed titles included V for Vendetta, graphic adaptations of 1984, and works by poet Rupi Kaur. The documents also show the policy created a significant workload, with Edmonton Public Schools hiring 11 teachers at a reported cost of $43,000 to assess its collection.
• Alberta unions and government marked the National Day of Mourning on April 28 in Edmonton, remembering 144 workers who died from work-related illness or injury in 2025. This year, the event highlighted psychological health in the workplace, addressing stress, harassment, and burnout. Gil McGowanof the Alberta Federation of Labour said that psychological injuries are preventable and should be seriously addressed, noting only 44% of WCB psychological injury claims are accepted.
• Alberta is increasing efforts to prevent invasive mussels from entering the province ahead of the summer boating season. The government plans to add more detection dogs trained to sniff out the shellfish and impose steep fines on boaters who bypass mandatory inspections. Environment Minister Grant Hunter said invasive mussels are extremely difficult to eliminate once established and that an outbreak could cause hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to infrastructure and waterways.

Here are some events happening today in the Edmonton area.

• ELIXR Industry Roundtable starting at 9am online
• Dance Lives Here starting at 12:15pm at City Hall Plaza
• ASTech Awards Information/Office Hours Sessions starting at 1:30pm online
• Edmonton Regional Innovation Network Annual General Meeting starting at 3pm at Edmonton Unlimited
• Ward Karhiio In-Person Engagement for 2027-2030 Budget starting at 5:30pm at Blessed John Paul I Elementary
• Footloose the Musical starting at 5:30pm at Mayfield Dinner Theatre
• Spring Soirée: An Evening With Alumni starting at 6pm at MacEwan University (The Lookout)
• Odd Wednesday starting at 7pm at Rapid Fire Exchange

And here are some upcoming events to keep in mind:

• May 6: Be Brave Luncheon at Edmonton Convention Centre
• May 9: Edmonton Bike Swap at Alberta Aviation Museum
• May 14: Anti-Hate Intervention Training online

Visit the Taproot Edmonton Calendar for many more events in the Edmonton region.

Test your crossword prowess and deploy a little of your Edmonton knowledge. Complete the puzzle.

Need a hint for 1-Across and 6-Across? Here you go.