Transportation in Edmonton
Transport in Edmonton is fairly typical for a Canadian city of its size, involving air, rail, road and public transit. With very few natural barriers to growth and largely flat to gently rolling terrain bisected by a deep river valley, the city of Edmonton has expanded to cover an area of nearly , of which only two-thirds is built-up, while the metropolitan area covers around . This has resulted in a heavily private transportation-oriented transportation network typical of any other city of its size in North America. However, Edmonton does not have the extensive limited access freeway system typical of what one would find in a US metro area, and the road network is somewhat unusual in regard to access to downtown. Public transportation The Edmonton Transit System (ETS) is the primary public transportation agency, covering most parts of the city, but only within the City of Edmonton proper (with one exception). Neighbouring communities outside Edmonton's city limits such as Sherwood Park and St. Albert operate their own public transit agencies and offer public transportation to and from neighbouring communities. The smaller city of Fort Saskatchewan contracts out bus services there to ETS. Light rail In 1978, Edmonton became the first city with a population of under one million to operate a light rail transit (LRT) system in North America. The LRT currently runs on two lines the Capital Line and the Metro Line extending 24.3 km. The system runs from Clareview Station in northeast Edmonton, across the North Saskatchewan River, to Century Park in the south; and northwest from downtown to NAIT. Of the 18 stations on the network, six are underground, running through the downtown core and the University of Alberta main campus, with the rest at ground level. , the city was constructing the Valley Line to the southeast and western parts of the city. A two-stop Capital Line extension to the Heritage Valley Transit Centre was under construction as well. Buses The ETS operates a fleet of well over 960 buses across the city with 180 regular routes. Edmonton was one of two cities in Canada (the other is Vancouver) that operated a trolley bus system until service was discontinued in May 2009. The ETS also operates a specialized system for disabled people called DATS (Disabled Adult Transit System). Commuter service to Edmonton's suburbs is provided by Strathcona County Transit and St. Albert Transit. Roads and streets Highways Edmonton is connected to British Columbia and Saskatchewan via the Yellowhead Highway (Highway 16, or Yellowhead Trail within city limits), and to Calgary and Red Deer via the Queen Elizabeth II Highway (known as Calgary Trail (southbound) or Gateway Boulevard (northbound) within city limits, on the alignment of the former Calgary and Edmonton Trail). Anthony Henday Drive Anthony Henday Drive (Highway 216) is a ring road encircling the City of Edmonton completed on October 1, 2016. In a clockwise direction, the of free-flowing road spans from the Yellowhead Trail (Highway 16)/Meridian Street in the east to Manning Drive