Edmonton Councillor Revives Fare Gate Debate

0:00It's April 23rd. From your city to your ears, this is Canada News Today, powered by AI. Edmonds and City Councilor Mike Elliott from Warpai Hessewin is pushing to bring back talks on fair gates at some LRT stations. He says they could improve how safe people feel on transit and bring in extra revenue too. This idea got shot down before by past councils because installing gates and hiring staff to check fairs would cost $7.2 million. But Elliott thinks things have changed now. Back then they used paper tickets so attendance were needed full time. Today it's all our cards, meaning no constant monitoring required. Emily Stremel with Emmington Transit Riders argues frequent riders already feel safe and the real fix is getting more folks on board. She points out crowds boosts civility and actual security way better than pricey gates. Transit officials say fair gates are tough here due to station designs, emergency exits and those high up front and ongoing costs.

1:01Elliott still wants the chat to keep going, even without a formal vote on the table yet.