A large part of the city, built before and during the Second World War, is laid out in a grid pattern of straight streets, which makes for easy navigation by car or foot. There are a number of bridges, including the Walterdale Bridge and High Level Bridge, going in and out of the downtown core.
Edmonton's downtown is fairly eclectic, home to numerous Government of Alberta buildings as well as modern office towers, including the CN Tower near City Hall and the impressive, white marble-clad Bank of Montreal on 101 Street. Edmonton contains some of the most architecturally significant buildings in the province, including the crimson-coloured Citadel Theatre and the church-like spires of Grant MacEwan University.
By taxi
The most prominent cab companies are:
Yellow Cab
780-462-3456, (http://www.edmontontaxise...).Capital Taxi
780-423-2425, (http://capitaltaxiedmonto...)Co-op Taxi
780-425-2525, (http://www.co-optaxi.com/).Barrel Taxi
780-489-7777, (http://www.edmontontaxise...).All Edmonton taxi companies offer 24/7 service. From the last weekend in November to New Year's Eve on weekends, Operation Red Nose offers cab rides for drivers who have been partying and prefer not to drive themselves 780-421-4444.
By Public Transit
Edmonton has a safe, efficient and inexpensive public transportation system: the Edmonton Transit System (http://www.takeets.com/). Hundreds of different bus routes cover the city, traveling nearly anywhere you need to go.
During peak hours, buses run as frequently as every 15 minutes. Outside of peak, the frequency drops to every 30 minutes and on some routes to industrial areas or far-flung suburbs as infrequent as one service per hour. Many major bus routes will operate as early as 5AM to as late as 1AM, but there are a number which stop running at 8PM-9PM or only run only during peak hours 6AM-9AM and 3PM-6PM. Some bus routes simply do not run on Sundays. For more information or to plan your bus trip, you can call Transit Information at 780-496-1611 or check out the Trip Planner (http://coewebapps.edmonto...), or Google Maps. For where routes go and their names which is essential, go to (http://www.edmonton.ca/tr...).
Edmonton's transit system is not unified with those of the nearby communities, so if you wish to visit the suburbs be prepared for more transfers and increased fares.
Edmonton was the first North American city with a population of under 1 million to have developed a Light Rail Transit LRT (http://www.edmontonslrt.com/) system. Metro Edmonton population is now over 1 million. It is a part of the Edmonton Transit System ETS, which also manages the buses. The track stretches from Clareview Station in the northeast section of the city to the Century Park Station formerly known as Heritage, going past the University of Alberta main and South Campuses.
During peak hours on weekdays, LRT trains run every 6 minutes. Outside of that and on Saturdays, frequency is every 7 to 12 minutes, depending on the time of day. Sundays and holidays, trains run every 15 minutes throughout the day. Trains operate from about 5:26AM to 1:26AM. On Sundays and holidays, the LRT stops running past 12:26AM.
Fares are $2.85 with children under 6 riding free. Day passes can be bought for $8.25 regardless of age group. A pack of 10 tickets can be purchased for $22.00 adults. Tickets can be purchased at the ETS online store, automated fare vending machines located at all LRT stations, or at the ETS Customer Information Centre located on the pedway level of Churchill Station. Note that Mac's convenience stores in Edmonton no longer sell adult bus tickets. (http://www.takeets.com)
By bike
Edmonton has excellent cycling routes which allow for all-year cycling, though winter cycling can be challenging for those unaccustomed to Edmonton weather. These marked routes, combined with a lack of freeways to traverse and relatively low traffic compared to other major cities, low snow or rainfall, and a fairly flat terrain, make Edmonton an easy city to travel by bicycle. The City of Edmonton provides free maps (http://www.edmonton.ca/po...) of the bike routes.
Finding Addresses
Edmonton streets are mostly numbered, although there are some named streets: usually major roadways and roads in the newer residential areas. Streets in Edmonton run north-south, while avenues run east-west. The downtown core of the city is centered near 101 St and Jasper Ave which corresponds to 101 Ave, with streets increasing in number to the west, and avenues increasing to the north.
Addresses follow a regular system throughout Edmonton, with even-numbered address numbers are on the north side of avenues and west side of streets. The first two or three digits of a building or house number identify the street it lies just west of, or the avenue it lies north of. For example, 10219-101 Street would be located on the east side of 101 Street, just north of 102 Avenue.
The vast majority of the city lies in the NW quadrant with the center-point near the southeast corner of the city proper. It is common to omit the "NW" from street addresses in the NW quadrant. The grid's official "zeros" are called Meridian Street at 0 Street and Quadrant Avenue at 0 Avenue, but they are not yet important streets for travel. Meridian & Quadrant do not even intersect at this time.
By car
Areas of Edmonton built before 1950 and even a few post-1950 place roadways on a grid, with streets N/S and avenues E/W. Some older neighbourhoods like Boyle Street have a diagonal grid pattern, with streets NW/SE and avenues SW/NE. During the 1950s and 1960s, roads became less grid-like, but they are still easily navigable although less easy to follow than the earlier counterparts. Almost all new neighborhood developments such as Windermere in the southside and the Village at Greisbach in the northwest are designed with more curves, cul-de-sacs and named streets. If visiting these newer areas, a current city map is highly recommended.