Edmontonians gain free access to new transit app features

It seems taking public transit has just gotten a bit easier here in Edmonton. The Canadian app Transit is partnering with the city to give all Edmontonians access to the app's premium features for free. So what will that look like? Now normally users have to pay five dollars a month just to use Transit to its full extent but starting now it'll be free to anyone living in the capital region whether that's downtown or even Sherwood Park or St. Albert. All you have to do is download and launch the app and Transit Royale is yours. This unlocks the app's best features. Riders can see more departure times, plan trips that combine fixed route and on-demand transit and bike share, And receive real-time service updates from their transit agency. This partnership with transit doesn't come without a cost though. The city is paying $500,000 a year for the next four years to cover user fees. And while these premium features are meant to make public transit just a bit easier to navigate, the real selling point for the city is the feedback they'll get from the more than 100,000 Edmontonians using the app. From safety concerns all the way to cleanliness. When riders use Transit App, They have the option to do what's called Rate My Ride, and we get hundreds of thousands of responses every month that help us understand the rider experience and then make improvements. The transit app premium features will be available to Edmontonians for the next four years. The city says they're planning to use this time to make improvements based on rider feedback. Tristan Mottershed, CBC News, Edmonton.