Thread by @estolte

.⁦@aaronpaquette⁩’s restated motion on free public transit now on the board.
He clarifies this is not immediate, not for this budget. #yegcc #yegtransit

"It's just a study," says @aaronpaquette.
City is already looking into many elements, including fare policy, but hasn't dug into economic impact of transit. #yegcc is building a city on this; "we should have a deep understanding of what this essential service is." #yegtranist

.@bevesslinger is questioning the use of this. It seems that city officials are already doing most of this work. The new piece is really economic impact.
Transit head Eddie Robar suggests this should come back to council after it approves the new route maps. #yegcc #yegtransit

.@MichaelWalters suggests the city is already looking at this through the next 10-year city plan (which includes both the municipal development plan and transportation plan).
The economic return on investment from transit should be a key part of that, he says. #yegcc #yegtransit

"If it's about removing fares, why wouldn't we ask that question directly?" says @MichaelWalters.
He says there's a big announcement tomorrow about transit in the region, with consultants hired to dig into many of this with provincial grants. #yegcc #yegtransit #yegmetro

This might just be put on hold.
City manager Linda Cochrane says she needs to check what the City Plan teams isn't already doing and report back. "They're doing a lot of this." #yegcc #yegtransit

.@aaronpaquette says a city report from several years ago says the transit system gives Edmonton an economic benefit of $700 million annually.
But it gave no more detail. That's critical information to understand as Edmonton makes a new growth plan. #yegcc #yegtransit

.@_TimCartmell suggest they postpone this motion, let everyone including administration think about it for a couple weeks, then vote.
By the way, here's the background on this: edmontonjournal.com/news/local-new… #yegcc #yegtransit

"Our fare policy has been focus on cost recovery ... the best way to get to cost recovery is to have no buses at all," says @ben_hen, saying there are really interesting questions here council has only danced around before.
"That's why I was intrigued by this motion." #yegcc

"Good transit leads to de-inflationary pressures on wages ... I've never seen that discussion at council," says @MikeNickel2019.
#yegcc shouldn't get distracted by the free transit discussion but definitely look at econometrics and benefit to private industry. #yegtransit

.@tony_caterina says the motion is driving to zero fare, even how it's restated, and seems redundant.
Police is an essential service, fire is an essential service. "This is my mind, doesn't seem close to an essential service," says Caterina of transit. #yegcc #yegtransit

#yeg has been having a tough discussion on everything that is not working well on transit -- routes, security, being forced to pay with cash ..
"We have lost the plot at times of why we are investing so much into improving the transit system," says @doniveson. #yegcc #yegtransit

.@doniveson says he has no interest in looking at free #yegtransit. Subsidizing tickets for people who can and do pay is an inefficient way to use taxpayer dollars.
"That's a nine-figure impact for the city of Edmonton, equivalent to at least an 8% property tax increase" #yegcc

.@doniveson moves to refer the motion to urban planning committee for further debate and to refine the motion. #yegcc #yegtransit

"This motion presumes that time started when it was written. ... It just doesn't help us," says @MichaelWalters, but sounds like he'll grudgingly support sending it to committee. #yegcc #yegtransit

.@Scott_McKeen says they need to hear from the Edmonton Transit Advisory Board on this. Many people on there have multiple degrees, and really invested and have done some really good reports.
He moves to send it there for comment first. #yegcc #yegtransit

.@doniveson give an impassioned plea to move on because time is tight.
So @Scott_McKeen withdraws his motion, @doniveson withdraws his motion and @aaronpaquette says he will simply give notice of the new wording today.
So... nothing happened 😏 #yegcc #yegtransit