Bob Boutilier, general manager of transportation for Edmonton, said commuters need to be patient at the beginning of the school year. Bob Boutilier, general manager of transportation for Edmonton, said commuters need to be patient at the beginning of the school year. (CBC)

Edmonton is bracing for a flood of new LRT riders over the next week.

With the city's post-secondary students heading back to class Sept. 7, transit workers estimate the system could see over 100,000 riders a day.

ETS estimates that nearly 50,000 students from the University of Alberta, Grant MacEwan University and NAIT will pick up their student transit pass once classes begin.

That means crowded platforms and full trains, said Bob Boutilier, general manager of transportation for the city.

He said commuters need to be patient at the beginning of the school year.

"I think once we get through that first two weeks and the university students have their timetables and everything worked out, I think there will be a little less [riders] during the peak and a little bit more spread out over the day," Boutilier said.

"But I think that first week is going to be one heck of a ride."

Boutilier said if trains are too crowded, the city will run additional buses to ease the pressure.