River valley funicular ridership remains consistent as bumps get worked out
From January to July, 181,486 one-way trips taken with stoppages falling to 151 from 334
Commuters taking the city’s river valley funicular have seen fewer unexpected stops compared to this time last year.
Normally the downtown ride that takes passengers from the North Saskatchewan River valley up to 100 Street lasts for about 48 seconds but the funicular’s first year in operation had a few bumps along the way.
The $24-million funicular had 334 stoppages by the end of July in 2018.
Juanita Spence, supervisor of River Valley Parks and Facility, said over that same time period, the number of stoppages this year has dropped to 151.
“In December of last year, the funicular was closed for a period of time while the city undertook some enhancements,” she said. “Those were aimed at improving services and trying to reduce these types of disruptions that we were having. We’ve seen significant improvements as a result of that. We’re also finding people who are using the funicular are more familiar with it. So there’s less user error.”
Those enhancements include a heating loop in the door sill to prevent icing, installation of a glass roof over the lower doors to help with winter issues and modified bike rails on the stairs and elevator staircase.
According to the city’s review of the funicular’s first year, the ride experienced 116 system failures, 322 emergency stops and about 550 alarms with more than 57 per cent of those from people pressing the emergency stop button.
About 20 per cent of the alarms were because of door malfunctions, heavy winds or overloading. The doors also saw some issues with ice and snow buildup.
Spence said whenever the alarm mode is activated a staff member verifies everything is safe before hitting the reset. The funicular is meant to be unstaffed so they’re dispatched from the nearby park.
She said the unexpected stops only lasted a short amount of time.
Ridership has remained fairly consistent with the funicular making 181,486 one-way trips from January to the end of July this year.
Spence said last year saw about the same number of riders.
“We’re seeing its uses is remaining consistent with its first year,” she added. “We’ve had a great first half of the year. We’ve continued to see the funicular is a popular and well-enjoyed amenity by Edmontonians.”
Randy Drouin, who commutes every day from the river valley to work at NAIT, said he often skips the funicular in favour of the stairs. He said the few times that he did use the funicular it was stopped.
“I don’t know how often it is in service but it feels like it is very often,” he said. “The first time I went to use it — because it was a new thing — I came up and saw a broken down sign. So I took the stairs.”
While the funicular was a familiar sight for Drouin, Molly Platts and her seven-year-old granddaughter Maddy decided to try the ride out for the first time. Both agreed that it was an all right trip.
“I’ve been on lots more rides that were more exciting but it was OK,” Platts said. “It’s different.”