Editing Edmonton Transit Service (section)

== History ==
Edmonton Transit Service began operations on 30 October 1908 as the ''[[Edmonton Radial Railway]]'' (ERR), and alternatively as the ''Edmonton Radial Tramway''.<ref name=":7">{{Cite web|last=Wyatt|first=David A.|date=13 December 207|title=Edmonton, Alberta|url=https://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~wyatt/alltime/edmonton-ab.html|url-status=live|access-date=4 April 2021|website=All-Time List of Canadian Transit Systems|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000116064801/http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca:80/~wyatt/alltime/edmonton-ab.html |archive-date=16 January 2000 }}</ref> Also in 1908, ERR acquired the ''Strathcona Radial Tramway Company Limited,'' and also began servicing the villages of North Edmonton and Calder.<ref name=":7" /> The transit service's name was changed to ''Edmonton Transportation Service'' in July 1946, but just a year later it was re-named to ''Edmonton Transit System.''<ref name=":7" /> The service was re-named to ''Edmonton Transit Service'' in 2016.<ref name=":7" />

=== Former systems ===
==== Streetcars ====
{{Main|Edmonton Radial Railway}}
[[File:Jasper Ave 1930.png|thumb|Jasper Avenue, looking east from 101st Street, circa 1930; this was where all streetcar lines radiated from.]]
The ''Edmonton Radial Railway'' (ERR) began operations in 1908, both in the City of Edmonton and the neighbouring [[Strathcona, Alberta|City of Strathcona]], with four streetcars serving {{Convert|21|km|mi}} of track.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=History of ETS – City of Edmonton |url=https://www.edmonton.ca/ets/ets-history-statistics |access-date=2021-08-22 |website=www.edmonton.ca}}</ref> Over ten million riders used the system annually by 1912, and the city purchased 47 additional streetcars.<ref name=":1" /> The radial railway reached its peak in 1930, with six lines serving almost all parts of the city, and totaling {{Convert|77|km|mi}} of track.<ref name=":22">{{Cite web |date=2019-10-30 |title=Tracks Through Time |url=https://www.ecfoundation.org/blog/tracks-through-time/ |access-date=2021-08-22 |website=Edmonton Community Foundation |language=en-US}}</ref> The city purchased five modern streetcars in 1930, which featured innovations such as steel bodies and leather seats; these were the last streetcars that Edmonton purchased.<ref name=":72">{{Cite book |last=Tingley |first=Kenneth W. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/648388316 |title=Ride of the century : the story of the Edmonton Transit System |date=2011 |publisher=Edmonton Transit System |others=Edmonton Transit System |isbn=978-0-9809275-0-4 |location=Edmonton |pages=107–130 |oclc=648388316}}</ref> The city significantly neglected its streetcar system during the [[Great Depression in Canada|Great Depression]], and it suffered from poor maintenance and outdated streetcars.<ref name=":72" /> In the late 1930s, Edmonton began to replace streetcar lines with [[electric trolleybus]] routes, supplemented by gas and diesel buses, instead of buying new streetcars and repairing or replacing the tracks and overhead lines that had deteriorated during the Depression.<ref name=":72" />

The transition to buses was slowed significantly during the Second World War, and Edmonton had to build additional trackage for its streetcars to meet the spike in transit usage during the war.<ref name=":72" /> It was also forced to reintroduce conductors on busy routes, to help operators with selling tickets and issuing transfers; conductors were originally phased out in the 1930s, when streetcars were converted from double-ended to single-ended operations.<ref name=":72" /> The ''Edmonton Radial Railway'' was renamed to ''Edmonton Transportation Service'' in 1946, to signify the decline of Edmonton's streetcar network; it was renamed again just one year later, to ''Edmonton Transit System''.<ref name=":72" />

After some initial postwar hiccups, which necessitated even more streetcar tracks being built as late as in 1946 in order to avoid service gaps, the transition to trolleybuses picked up steam.<ref name=":72" /> By 1949, only two streetcar routes remained in service: The Blue Route, and the Blue & White Route, which totaled {{Convert|27|km|mi}} in length.<ref name=":72" /> In its final configuration, the service went between a turning loop at 109 Street and 84 Avenue, and another loop at 66 Street and 124 Avenue, via the High Level Bridge.<ref name=":32">{{Cite web |title=Edmonton Radial Railway Society |url=http://www.edmonton-radial-railway.ab.ca/streetcarhistory/trackmaps/ |access-date=2021-08-22 |website=www.edmonton-radial-railway.ab.ca}}</ref>

On September 1, 1951, Edmonton streetcar No.{{nbsp}}1 – the first streetcar ordered by Edmonton – performed a ceremonial 'last run' across the [[High Level Bridge (Edmonton)|High Level Bridge]] while carrying special dignitaries; over 1000 spectators lined its route.<ref name="ERRS timeline">{{cite web |title=Edmonton Streetcar System |url=http://www.edmonton-radial-railway.ab.ca/streetcarhistory/streetcarsystem/ |publisher=[[ERRS]] |accessdate=2010-03-10}}</ref> Early the next morning, the dignitaries rode streetcar #52 back to the ETS Cromdale shop, which marked the final time that a streetcar was operated by ETS.<ref name=":72" />

All of Edmonton's streetcars, except for #1, were stripped of their valuable materials like steel and electric wiring, and the bodies were sold for scrap.<ref name="ERRS timeline" /> The [[Edmonton Radial Railway Society]] (ERRS) has recovered and restored three former Edmonton streetcars, and has another six awaiting restoration.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Edmonton Radial Railway Society |url=http://www.edmonton-radial-railway.ab.ca/streetcars/ |access-date=2022-06-22 |website=www.edmonton-radial-railway.ab.ca}}</ref> Aside from the three which it recovered and restored, it also operates Edmonton #1, which sat outside in a city yard for over ten years before being restored by volunteers – many of whom who later founded the ERRS.<ref name=":72" />

==== Trolley bus system ====
[[File:Edmonton BBC trolleybus 192.jpg|thumb|ETS trolley bus]]
{{Main|Trolley buses in Edmonton}}

[[Trolley bus]] service in Edmonton started on 24 September 1939, operating on route 5 from 101 Street/Jasper Avenue to 95 Street/111 Avenue. By the end of October of that year, service had started on another route running to 99 Street/Whyte Avenue via the Low Level Bridge. In Edmonton, trolley buses were often referred to simply as "trolleys".

The trolley bus system used a mixture of Ohio Brass and K&M Elastic (Swiss) suspension for holding up the [[Overhead lines|overhead wires]].

The 47 vehicles remaining in use in 2008 were from an order of 100 manufactured in 1981–82 by [[Brown, Boveri & Cie|Brown Boveri & Company]] (BBC), using bodies and chassis supplied to BBC by [[General Motors Diesel Division|GM]].{{Citation needed|date=October 2011}}

On 18 June 2008, city council voted 7 to 6 in favour of phasing out the trolley system between 2009 and 2010.<ref>{{cite news|date=19 June 2008|title=Trolleys reach end of the line|work=[[Edmonton Journal]]|url=http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=a17d9aa6-0be1-4ae9-a977-0ca5a215d1ac|url-status=dead|access-date=2 October 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080620194932/http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=a17d9aa6-0be1-4ae9-a977-0ca5a215d1ac|archive-date=20 June 2008|df=dmy-all}}</ref> However, city council decided in April 2009 that trolley bus service would be discontinued earlier than had been planned, in order to reduce the city's expected $35 million deficit that year.<ref>{{cite news|last=Landry|first=Frank|date=19 April 2009|title=Mayor targets city honchos|publisher=[[Edmonton Sun]]|url=http://www.edmontonsun.com/news/edmonton/2009/04/16/9131011-sun.html|url-status=live|access-date=5 February 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120307132220/http://www.edmontonsun.com/news/edmonton/2009/04/16/9131011-sun.html|archive-date=7 March 2012}}</ref> The last day of regular service was 2 May 2009.<ref>{{cite web|title=ETS Trolley Buses|url=http://www.edmonton.ca/transportation/ets/about_ets/ets-trolley.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110616145950/http://www.edmonton.ca/transportation/ets/about_ets/ets-trolley.aspx|archive-date=16 June 2011|access-date=3 October 2011|publisher=City of Edmonton}}</ref>

In 2007, the city leased a [[low floor|low-floor]] model of trolley, for 11 months, from [[Coast Mountain Bus Company]], Vancouver's bus operating company, for testing of possible benefits of low-floor trolleys over hybrid diesel buses. During its time in Edmonton the bus was numbered 6000, but was returned to its original #2242 when returned to Vancouver.<ref>{{cite journal|date=29 September 2007|title=Edmonton Tests new Low Floor Trolley Bus|url=http://www.trolleycoalition.org/pdf/bulletin17.pdf|publisher=Edmonton Trolley Coalition|access-date=31 August 2017|journal=Transit Talk}}</ref>