Tri-Municipal Regional Transit Plan City of Spruce Grove | Town of Stony Plain | Parkland County February 2018 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In collaboration with the City of Spruce Grove, the Town of Stony Plain and Parkland County, Watt Consulting Group and our project partners would like to thank all those Tri-Municipal Region municipal staff, stakeholders and service providers who provided their feedback and ideas into this process. In particular, we are grateful to the contributions of the project Steering Committee Members Erin Felker (Parkland County), Patrick Inglis (City of Spruce Grove), and Miles Dibble (Town of Stony Plain). The project also appreciatively acknowledges the support of the Canada-Alberta Public Transit Infrastructure Fund (PTIF). 2 | Tri-Municipal Regional Transit Plan Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................ 4 1.0 INTRODUCTION ........................................................ 12 7.0 TRANSIT SERVICE OPTIONS .................................. 58 1.1 Project Process, Involvement and Timeline ............ 13 7.1 Suggested Short Term Options (1-3 years) ........... 59 1.2 Initial Engagement Results ..................................... 14 7.2 Suggested Medium Term Options (4-10 Years) .... 81 7.3 Suggested Long Term Options (10+ Years) .......... 87 2.0 COMMUNITY CONTEXT ........................................... 15 7.4 Service Option Summary ....................................... 88 2.1 Community Overview and Population ..................... 15 7.5 Future Forecast and Benchmarking ....................... 89 2.2 Community Planning Framework ............................ 19 2.3 Land Use and Transportation Key Conclusions ..... 23 8.0 SUPPORTING MEASURES ...................................... 91 8.1 Proposed Infrastructure Priorities ........................... 91 3.0 EXISTING TRANSIT SYSTEM OVERVIEW AND 8.2 Proposed Technology Priorities ............................. 93 PERFORMANCE ....................................................... 25 8.3 Proposed Marketing and Information Priorities ...... 94 3.1 Overview of Current Area Transit Services ............ 25 8.4 Proposed Fare Priorities ........................................ 95 3.2 Existing Area Transit Plans ..................................... 26 8.5 Proposed Policy Priorities ...................................... 96 3.3 Existing Conventional Transit ................................. 28 9.0 SERVICE DESIGN STANDARDS AND 3.4 Existing Specialized Transit .................................... 33 3.5 Overall Existing Fares ............................................. 37 PERFORMANCE GUIDELINES ................................ 97 3.6 Other Transportation Providers ............................... 39 9.1 Overarching System Design Principles .................. 98 9.2 Design Standards By Service Type ..................... 101 4.0 THE CASE FOR FURTHER INTEGRATION.............. 40 9.3 Performance Guidelines ....................................... 110 4.1 Current Areas of Responsibility and Overlap .......... 40 4.2 Opportunities for Increased Integration................... 42 10.0 GOVERNANCE AND SERVICE DELIVERY ........... 113 10.1 Governance Structures ........................................ 114 5.0 SUMMARY OF KEY OPPORTUNITIES ..................... 44 10.2 Service Delivery Models ....................................... 115 6.0 LONG TERM TRANSIT STRATEGY ......................... 45 11.0 CONCLUSION AND NEXT STEPS ......................... 116 6.1 The Transit “Toolbox”: Service Design Types ........ 45 11.1 Ready for Further Transit Investment .................. 116 6.2 Long Term Network Strategy and Service Layers .. 47 11.2 Recommended Next Steps .................................. 117 6.3 System Evolution: How Initiatives Relate ............... 50 6.4 Supporting Transportation Options ......................... 53 APPENDICES .................................................................... 118 City of Spruce Grove • Town of Stony Plain • Parkland County | 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Introduction Project Process and Timeline The Tri-Municipal Regional Transit Plan seeks to deliver a Undertaken from April to December 2017, the project was unified vision for future transit service and its supporting guided by a Steering Committee made up of staff infrastructure and strategies for the City of Spruce Grove, representatives from the three partner municipalities. With theTown of Stony Plain and Parkland County, Alberta (the “Tri- many previous transit plans and materials undertaken for the Municipal Region”). respective individual communities, the Regional Transit Plan mainly focused on consolidating existing information and Developed by Watt Consulting Group in collaboration with ensuring alignment on a regional scale. these municipalities, the Regional Transit Plan encompasses The Plan project team also conducted interviews with key local all forms of transit in the local communities, as well as government staff, community stakeholders and existing connections to the Edmonton Metropolitan Region. transportation providers throughout the area to confirm transportation needs, issues and opportunities. Detailed analysis of existing transit service performance and community In Focus: Regional Transit Plan Goals plans further supported the process, as did review and • Provide a clear outline for the continued evolution of perspective on findings provided by Brian Mills & Associates. transit to effectively and efficiently increase community transportation options. Multiple Steering Committee workshops were used to shape the plan, as well as service provider and stakeholder • Determine transit priorities and funding implications workshops conducted in October 2017 to review and refine into the long term for cost estimates to be built into municipal plans. final recommendations. The project was framed by an overarching Intermunicipal Collaboration Committee for the • Provide immediate guidance and recommendations with three area municipalities, which ensured alignment with larger respect to current issues and opportunities facing transit organizational goals and communication with senior staff and in the area. elected officials. The plan process was also cognizant of other larger discussions related to transit and transportation integration at the Edmonton Metropolitan Region level. 4 | Tri-Municipal Regional Transit Plan Existing Transit Transit in the Tri-Municipal Region currently consists of a number of different services: • Conventional Transit providing scheduled weekday • Stony Plain HandiBus providing local and regional door- commuter service on routes between Spruce Grove, to-door service for people with a disability and seniors Acheson and Edmonton operated through contract with the living in Stony Plain, funded and operated by the Town of Edmonton Transit System (ETS) and funded by the City of Stony Plain. Spruce Grove and Parkland County. • Acheson Shuttle providing demand responsive In Focus: Transit Issues and Opportunities connection between ETS services and employer locations The Plan determined three overarching priorities for in the Acheson area, operated by Southland improved transit in the Tri-Municipal Region: Transportation and funded by a utility fee imposed by 1. The need for local service to connect communities within Parkland County. the Tri-Municipal area, in particular to serve the needs of youth, commuters, seniors and families. • Spruce Grove Specialized Transit Service (STS) 2. Significant opportunities to better coordinate / integrate the providing local and regional door-to-door service for people various transit services. with a disability and seniors living in Spruce Grove and select areas of Parkland County, operated by the Spruce 3. The desire for more regional connection with Edmonton and Acheson, supported by continued growth of school Grove Specialized Transit Society and funded by the City and work commuter markets. of Spruce Grove and Parkland County. City of Spruce Grove • Town of Stony Plain • Parkland County | 5 The Future: Proposed Service Improvements and Long-Term Network Strategy Building from the identified issues and opportunities and overarching community plans, a long-term network strategy and layers of transit service are proposed for the Tri-Municipal Region. This strategy defines the most important transit corridors for future development and road network improvement decisions to reinforce the corridors. Similarly, by describing service and corridors in terms of layers and the long term vision, the reason why different levels of investment may be applied to some areas over others is highlighted. The layers of service types are described in the table below and map on the facing page. The strategy is complemented by supporting measures (infrastructure, vehicles, passenger information, fares, etc.) and service options described on the following pages. PROPOSED LONG TERM TRI-MUNICIPAL REGION TRANSIT NETWORK SERVICE LAYERS Service Layer Definition Service Types Regional High quality* service between Tri-Municipal Region (Stony Plain, Spruce • Conventional Express Connector Grove and Acheson) and the Edmonton Metropolitan Region (EMR). Local Higher frequency service (every 15 minutes or better) connecting key • Fixed Route using smaller vehicles Connector destinations and higher population corridors within the Tri-Region, • Flex Route and Deviated Service are possible particularly between Stony Plain and Spruce Grove. during non-commute times, especially to start Local Core Higher