The City of Edmonton should not run transit buses to the international airport without help from neighbouring municipalities, an administration report recommends.

"Given the Capital Region Board mandate for planning, operating and capital/operating funding for this type of regional service, the City of Edmonton should not proceed unilaterally with operating service to the airport," the report states. "All partners should share the costs and risks."

The proposal to run buses from the Century Park LRT to the airport south of the city was put forward by the Edmonton Transit System Advisory Board last fall. Under the proposal, Edmonton transit buses would run every half hour from 5:30 a.m. to 1 a.m. at a cost of $2.30 each way.

But according to the report, the revenue from the service would not cover costs.

The board estimated the annual operating cost at $1.96 million. Edmonton Transit estimates those costs to be closer to $2.25 million not including the $1.5 million needed to buy another three buses.

The adjusted costs mean the service would have to carry 2,400 passengers a day to break even.

"While it is not possible to provide a reliable estimate of passenger use for the service proposed by the Board, based on the experience of other cities, it is unlikely that revenues wouild fully offset operating costs," the report says. "Thus, there is considerable financial risk associated with this option, both for ongoing operations costs and future bus purchase costs."

Councillors will discuss the proposal at Tuesday's transportation and public works committee meeting.