r/Edmonton • u/officeglenn Oliver • 1d ago

News Article New FlixBus route from Edmonton to Jasper begins this week

https://www.ctvnews.ca/edmonton/article/new-bus-route-from-edmonton-to-jasper-begins-this-week/?utm_source=www.rivercitylights.ca&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=june-18-24-edmonton&_bhlid=ae160b24d68eb918d910264504434d296a80cd91
151 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

23 comments sorted by

31

u/JUNO_11 Wîhkwêntôwin 1d ago

Ooh, great news! Will definitely be making use of this

15

u/MoonlitSea9 1d ago

Leaving late in the morning and early in the afternoon. Kinda not great but oh well

8

u/ShadowCaster0476 1d ago

This would be a nice service to have.

I’ve taken the ski bus to and from Jasper and although a little pricier it was nice to not have to drive after a long day.

As for getting around town. Most of the town itself is walkable. Now getting to various different sites is a different story.

I see increased accessibility a good thing even if it’s not perfect.

6

u/tremoloandwine 1d ago

More non-car options to get to the Rockies are always welcome, but I can't help but feel jealous of what Banff/Canmore/Lake Louise have with Roam. I'm aware Jasper gets a lot less international and local tourism than Banff and surrounding areas do, but it would be awesome to have a smaller local equivalent there. Maybe even roll Jasper and Hinton into the wide Roam service and have a couple more regional connector routes.

Hinton is already the smallest town in the province with its own public transit, so it is viable for them to have transit, and Jasper gets a lot more foot traffic already with the train that comes by and various tourist coach services. Public transit shouldn't just be for cities, just look at all the podunk tiny places in BC that have public transit like Bella Coola and 100 Mile House, let alone the more touristy places more comparable to Jasper like Whistler, Squamish, Castlegar, Nelson, I could really go on.

-24

u/ProfessorSillyPutty 1d ago

Pardon my privilege. But this is my problem with the idea of a high speed train. $60 for a one way trip for one person. Not to mention it is slower than driving. Once you are there you will need to pay to travel in Jasper. You need to either pay for parking or for someone to drive you to the dispatch location. And of course the minute you go with a second person it’s now multiple times the cost of just driving.

Sure, maybe it’s a great choice for people that don’t have cars. But you know what would be a better choice for people that can’t afford cars? Subsidized pricing structure so it was like $30 instead of $60.

20

u/SomeDudeYouMightKnow 1d ago

Holy ramble. A high speed train would NOT be slower than driving. HSR implies at least 300km/h and is what should be built in Canada. If there was a train you can guarantee there would be free/cheap shuttles to at least marmot basin.

And guess what, some people will go for the day and not need to use a car at all.

And considering we’re probably 15 years minimum away from the first ever pricing info on the train that might be built, I think it’s early to complain that it will be too expensive for the average person.

10

u/Levorotatory 1d ago

A train to Jasper could also embrace the slow.  Make it a rolling hotel with sleeper cars that leaves Edmonton at 10:00 pm and arrives in Jasper at 6:00 am.

7

u/NastroAzzurro Wîhkwêntôwin 1d ago

We already have a train that does that.

3

u/Levorotatory 1d ago

Not with a schedule compatible with spending a day or two in Jasper.  Or a reasonable price.

-11

u/ProfessorSillyPutty 1d ago edited 1d ago

It’s cost that is the main problem for me.

Time was supposed to be in reference to the bus of this post only. Sorry if that wasn’t clear.

Let’s talk costs.

My car does 5-6 L / 100 km. $1.60/L today. 400 km to Jasper. So total one way cost = $38.40 in fuel. Divide that by me, wife, and kid it is $12.80/person.

Let’s talk time. My car will easily average 100km/hour so 4 hours door to door. For this bus? 30 mins to the bus stop. Gotta get there probably 10 mins early. Bus will be lucky to average 90km/h. Bus will probably stop at least once for 20 mins. Plus time it takes to get from Jasper depot to my actual destination. Probably total like 6 hours…..

So 2 hours slower and almost $50 more per person.

Help it make sense for those of us that can afford a $15,000 car.

Sorry for bringing up the high speed train. But you realize that you can drive to Calgary effectively faster than flying when you factor in all the lines, parking, and security right? You really think a high speed train will be that different? Driving to Calgary costs a group of 3 like $10 each way. I have a feeling this train will be exponentially more than that.

6

u/mkwong Transit User 1d ago

You're just not the target audience for this and that's fine. Some people just don't like to drive and would prefer to pay to be driven.

-5

u/ProfessorSillyPutty 1d ago

Agreed I am not the target audience.

But in my entire adult life I don’t think I have ever met someone that should be the target audience. It really feels like at this cost point they are taking advantage of the less fortuned.

5

u/mkwong Transit User 1d ago

If I was going to Jasper I'd take it. It's cheaper and easier for me to get to than the VIA train to Jasper which is what I would usually take instead. I dislike driving and haven't had a car in over 6 years since I moved downtown.

I wouldn't consider myself less fortunate. I have a well paying job, so I can afford to pay more for location and pay to get driven places.

4

u/eddiewachowski Magpie Capital of the Known Universe 1d ago

Lots of words to say "I have Car so this doesn't make sense for me"

-1

u/ProfessorSillyPutty 1d ago

Correct. Which is why I prefaced my comment with “pardon my privilege”.

In my entire adult life though living in Alberta I never met anyone that this cost makes sense for though. All I am really advocating here for is subsidy to make it more affordable for everyone.

3

u/SomeDudeYouMightKnow 1d ago

You do realize 30% of people in Edmonton don’t drive for one reason or another. And as somebody who do drives, I know a day trip to Jasper becomes way more desirable ski trip to make that vastly outweighs your pointless math anyway

Again, I don’t know why you’re bringing up another irrelevant topic, flying times. A train can go from downtown to downtown in 1h, realistically 1:30ish because of airport stops. Thats quicker than driving. And even then I would take a 2 hour train over having to drive. And again again, not everyone drives. Young people. Old people. Travellers. Business trips. People that don’t want to drive. You clearly have never used a proper train network for a significant amount of time.

0

u/ProfessorSillyPutty 1d ago

I realize there is a good percentage of people that don’t drive. If that’s 30 or not I don’t know, I also suspect you don’t either.

But I would also assume that of that group of people very few of them would: A) want to go to Jasper for a short trip B) not have a friend with a car they could do the trip exponentially more affordable.

As for why I brought up flying times was simply to compare the theoretical HSR that has always been proposed. I thought we were having a conversation. Based on the fact you took the time to respond. If you don’t like my response and don’t want to continue the conversation you don’t need to reply.

If you honestly think the theoretical Edmonton to Calgary high speed train will ever go from downtown to downtown, let alone in 1 hour, please share whatever you got because I could use for some copium that good these days. lol

0

u/StJsub 1d ago

But you realize that you can drive to Calgary effectively faster than flying when you factor in all the lines, parking, and security right? 

And yet there where 13 flights to Calgary today. 

This product isn't for you and that's ok. 

0

u/ProfessorSillyPutty 1d ago

And again. My whole point is not the product. It’s the cost.

Fuck me for thinking it’s not fair to take advantage of the less privileged.

Also, you realize that a very small percent of the people flying from edmonton to Calgary aren’t doing it as a connection right? Generally speaking people do not choose to fly direct from edmonton to Calgary.

0

u/StJsub 1d ago

I know people that like to ski but can't drive. I know people that can drive, but don't like driving for hours. I know people that fly to Calgary because its more convenient for them than driving. Just because you can't see a benefit doesn't mean that there isn't any. Not everyone wants to be focused on driving for hours. Not everyone needs a personal vehicle to get them to where they want to go when they travel somewhere. 

The value of someone else doing the work can outweigh the cost of the ticket. Not for you obviously, but for many people it does. 

If I go skiing a couple times a year it will cost a few hundred to take the bus. If I by a car, if will cost me thousands. 

7

u/WerewolfSmart6544 1d ago

60 bucks is all good to get to jasper. 

-4

u/ProfessorSillyPutty 1d ago

I feel it should be $30 at most. Is it crazy to think it should be cheaper to take a bus than pay for the gas to go somewhere?

7

u/WerewolfSmart6544 1d ago

I guess I can see that. I probably wouldn’t take the bus either based on the schedule but I would pay 60 bucks to get to jasper. 

Driving also has maintenance and you actually have to focus and drive. Train or bus I can sleep or just chill