Beaumont, AB – Last night, Beaumont City Council voted unanimously to continue to work towards submitting a formal application to the Government of Alberta for the creation of a Regional Transit Services Commission.

“Our council voted yes because a unified transit network will provide enhanced service delivery and customer service, all at a lower cost to our taxpayers,” said Councillor Sam Munckhof-Swain of the RTSC Transition Team. “For example, being part of the RTSC will allow Beaumont seniors and young families the opportunity to spend the day in Edmonton with more options on return times, it will allow our students to stay home in Beaumont and commute into university, and it will attract new residents to our city who want to work in the rapidly growing job market around the airport.”

Beaumont is now the 10th municipality to vote and the 9th to vote yes to submitting a formal request to the Government of Alberta. The remaining municipalities will vote throughout February and March.

“As we continue to work with our regional neighbours to better plan our municipalities without the limitations of jurisdictional boundaries, we believe that regional transit is a crucial step in building better, more connected cities,” said Mayor John Stewart. “A more integrated transit service can relieve congestion and take pressure off infrastructure, providing immense benefit to both transit and non-transit users.”

In January, the RTSC Transition Team released its report: “Accelerating Transit in the Edmonton Metropolitan Region: Building a Regional Transit Services Commission.” The report recommended combining transit services to allow better coordination of service and economies of scale, saving the region 850 service hours per week and over $3 million per year once the systems are fully aligned in 2026.

Next steps include public engagement, further detailed discussions, and other pre-implementation work as outlined in the final report and will be confirmed by the participating members of the RTSC Transition Team once voting by all regional municipalities is complete.

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