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Axford Impact Series - Written Case Analysis
Increasing Downtown Edmonton’s Vibrancy through a Safer Transit Service
David Chorney, Max Dublenko, Andy Quach, Danny Kim, Caleb Stechyshyn
Department of Business, University of Alberta
BUS 101/102 - Foundations of Business
Dr. Leo Wong
December 4, 2022
Axford Impact Series - Written Case Analysis
We are here to present a key issue regarding the vibrancy of downtown Edmonton. We
write to the city council and the Mayor of Edmonton, Amarjeet Sohi. Ever since the arrival of the
Global pandemic Covid 19, the heart of our city has diminished. The once vibrant, bustling, and
welcoming streets of downtown have turned into the opposite. An unsafe and unfavourable
environment has invaded downtown Edmonton's surrounding transit and areas. The critical
issue surrounding safety has sparked a significant concern as to why downtown has yet to have
the desirable foot traffic that the community is used to. Transportation safety surrounding the
Light Rail Transit system (LRT) and public buses have limited the number of people willing to
travel downtown and visit the great local businesses and entertainment it has to offer. It has
been reported by local businesses that foot traffic has decreased by 53% since pre-covid times.
The increased economic struggles that local businesses, restaurants, boutiques, and corner
stores have endured due to the pandemic will continue to hurt even more with the reduction of
consumer traffic downtown. Right now, the city of Edmonton has built 75 public bus stops with
routes stretching from the municipality's south section to the edge of Leduc, extending to the
north part of St. Albert. With this more significant number of bus routes, the ability to attract
locals from all across the city is very favourable. By having a grander police presence and
creating a safer and more welcoming environment for societal interaction, we can expect foot
traffic to increase to the average numbers before covid (2019), which was approximately
120,000 civilians a year. Before covid, Edmonton had one of the highest crime rates in Canada.
As of 2022, Edmonton was ranked the 18 most dangerous city in Canada and was named the
229 most dangerous place in the world with a crime index of 44.56. Hence anything below the
number 50.0 is relatively unstable. As light is brought towards the economic downfall in
downtown Edmonton, it is no surprise that safety is a crucial issue. It is the moral responsibility
of the City council of Edmonton to act swiftly in creating a more safe environment both in the
streets and transportation systems. Through these actions, downtown Edmonton will be seen
as a vibrant place for locals and visitors to come together and appreciate what downtown
offers.
Through reading multiple resources and executing extensive research, there is clear
evidence related to the vital issue of improving transit and street safety. Using the S.W.O.T
method to identify the internal, external, helpful, and harmful attributes and objectives, we have
organized the eight most important and relevant pieces of information to cover our crucial
issue.
To begin
, our city's homelessness and crime rates go hand-in-hand. Police data shows
that crime severity and recurring crimes at shelters and LRT stations were 23% above average
before covid (2018). From year-to-year analysis, data shows that civilians calling 911 to report
crimes in and around LRT stations and outside of bus shelters were called towards homeless
people 46% of the time. In 2021 and into the early months of 2022, there were an estimated 335
911 calls for police due to homeless crime in the LRT stations, with “MacEwan station” receiving
the most calls. The MacEwan station is located in the heart of downtown and the brewery
district, with numerous restaurants and bars that welcome people from all backgrounds. A
reason we see an increase in the MacEwan station is the fact that the Edmonton homeless
shelter is 300 meters away from the LRT station.
Axford Impact Series - Written Case Analysis
To improve transit and street safety downtown, we must strategically create a plan to
improve the homeless situation downtown—the
second
research related to security cameras
installed in the LRT stations and bus stops. As of right now, 18 LRT stations run through
Edmonton. There are only 1,100 cameras dispersed throughout those 18 locations, and 400 of
these cameras were just recently installed. In comparison, the LRT that runs in Vancouver just
installed 1200 new cameras on top of the hundreds that were previously installed when the
station was built. Security cameras will allow for the reduction of theft and train robberies, the
ability to act swiftly on suspicious activity, monitor passenger conditions, and assist in catching
suspects and repeat offenders of crimes in these stations as it was reported that ten specific
homeless people make up 38% of the crime reported in LRT stations across the city. By
installing security cameras, safety in our municipality would improve substantially.
The third
piece
of research conducted relates to drug use in the city transit stations and bus stops. In the
last 14 months, there have been 842 dispatches to transit systems involving drug issues. That is
approximately nine a day. The recent opioid crisis in Edmonton has resorted drug users to enter
underground stations to hide from police and seek shelter while doing drugs. This has led to
overdoses resulting in human bodies lying in the middle of train stations and infected drug
devices such as dirty glass smoke pipes scattered on trains. This has provoked drug users to
become violent with passengers and train drivers. An innovative plan to limit and hopefully
eliminate drug use in transportation stations will encourage civilians to feel safe in using public
transportation downtown.
The fourth piece
of research involves finding a balance between
insufficient police security in LRT stations and too many officers. A recent invoking of power
from Mr. Sohi in the early weeks of July 2022 stated that he would create a two-week safety
plan which headed the area of adding a more prominent police presence in the LRT stations.
Before this addition, each station had one security guard monitoring from 7:00 am to 10:00 pm.
With recent acquisitions, Edmonton has brought on an extra ten security guards, but foot traffic
has not increased, and safety concerns have not vanished. The addition of security may make
passengers feel intimidated and that a crime is present in this high-volume area. The city must
balance implementing security at transit systems to make passengers feel safe but not intimate
or frightful to ride.
The vacancy of office spaces and buildings was an issue researched during this case.
The fifth
research involved looking at vacancy rates during 2022 and comparing them to past
vacancy rates. Vacancy inside offices and other buildings Downtown is at an all-time high. This
is highly concerning for the vibrancy Downtown. Vacancies are up to 36% during 2022, making
almost 1 in 5 office buildings empty. While this may be due to others deciding/forced to work
from home because of Covid-19 and its following restrictions, there needs to be more to help
Downtown's vibrancy issue. Many business owners report that business was down 80% because
of the lack of foot traffic and population,
“You need that crowd to survive, especially this area
downtown” (Dhanju 2022). It was skyscrapers and office buildings that were downtown
occupying it. Office workers hold a substantial majority of the population Downtown. With the
increased rate of vacancy and lower number of people in the office,
the vacancy percentage
weakens economic output in the city of Edmonton. It acts as a threat to the foot
Axford Impact Series - Written Case Analysis
traffic/population Downtown. With society reinserting itself post-covid and returning workers to
offices, vibrancy will continue to improve. Vibrancy in Downtown continues to be a problem
inside Edmonton, but this doesn’t seem to be the issue when discussing yearly events inside of
Edmonton.
The sixth
research conducted involved foot traffic during spring and summer events.
Every year, Edmonton hosts a variety of different kinds of events throughout spring and summer.
One notable event that occurred this year in 2022 was Taste
Of Edmonton
which went from July
21- July 31. Attendance of this event was an astonishing 300,000 Edmontonians. This is an
increase of 30% compared to 2019’s
Taste of Edmonton
show. The number of people attending
the event tells the city of Edmonton that Edmontonians can visit and enjoy Downtown but only
when there is a reason to. While the 30% increase in traffic may result from people wanting to be
able to socialize and break free from covid-19, it may also show that Edmonton completely
lacked social events Downtown throughout the year 2022. Lack of events also means less
vibrancy in Downtown; the city of Edmonton needs to implement more social events inside of
Downtown, which encourages social interaction among its citizens and allows for more traffic
that goes through Edmonton’s Downtown, helping its vibrancy.
Edmonton's public transportation service includes the
Edmonton Transit system
and the
Edmonton Light Rail Transit
.
The seventh
research involved the analysis of current public
transportation inside Edmonton. With recent gas prices rising and due to many other factors,
public transportation is how many choose to traverse across the city. Especially with the busy
and expensive parking inside downtown, many workers and citizens use the
ETS
and
ELRT
.
Edmonton ranks dead middle in average cost per ride and monthly passes compared to other
major cities in Canada. With the price of 100 dollars every month for a pass, we rank lower than
cities such as Toronto, Ottawa and Calgary. Even with the lower cost of public transportation, it
is acceptable to lower it even further. Use as a city have significantly less nightlife than other
cities in Canada. It is not a surprise that we are nicknamed “Deadmonton” by many of our
citizens. Lowering the cost of transportation even further would hopefully help citizens and
tourists be more open to travelling Downtown. While this may help vibrancy, the city of
Edmonton needs to consider the economic side of things if they were to lower the price of its
transportation system.
To end,
the research concluded by studying crime rates inside Downtown
Edmonton. According to statistics, Downtown Edmonton had a crime amount totalling 8343
cases in 2020. Of this total, 1608 cases were linked to a violent crime, and the other 6735 cases
were linked to a property crime. This number totalled more than the total cases in the rest of the
city. The staggering amount of property crime could be related to the vandalism showcased
across Downtown buildings and property. The constant destruction makes Downtown
unpleasant to look at and puts an impression on others who live here and would want to visit.
Putting stricter fines on vandalism and hiring workers to clean it up will surely improve the
vibrancy inside Downtown, but what is to say people stop committing these crimes? The city's
Downtown has a massive crime problem, which could be why many choose to avoid it together.
One of the two alternatives was creating a safe drug use space. We would have city-run
areas for addicts to take their drugs in a safer environment. This way, if anything were terrible to
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