York Region Transit \ Viva

[Chris W]

That wasn't so much of a service "plan" as it was a series of service cuts. None of them made sense and it was quite difficult to read. Perhaps a change of management is in order?

[Neoupa2002]

Sounds like budget cuts everywhere...

Seriously, how on earth are people going to travel around York Region when the Pan Am games roll around with a 40 minute frequency route?

[yrt+viva=1system]

Looks like it's time to start paying for that huge bill that the busways has racked up. While browsing through the pdfs, there were at times I was wishing that VIVA failed to show how stupid YRT is with cutting service (direct\indirect).

[new.flyer.408]

I feel that more of these cuts are based on the way YRT/viva is funded.

Yes, I'm sure that we all want increased service - but we also have to look at the cost of providing this service, and how we can maximize service hours for less. Look at the revenue generated and subsidy provided for by the region. In an auto-centric region like York it's difficult to provide good service when your towns and cities are not set up for public transit. I'm actually very impressed by Brampton and Mississauga for getting as far as they have.

YRT is not responsible for development, design and construction of the rapidways (though they are the primary stakeholder). They are bearing the operational and maintenance cost once completed.

I don't disagree. I think a lot of these cuts are stupid. But it goes beyond 'Cut cut cut'. I'm sure the service planners are trying to do their absolute best with the money that they're provided with. I don't think they want to inconvenience anyone either, but if something has to go, it'd be anything that's the least cost-efficient.

[York Transit]

The 2017 Viva map is foamerific though.

How likely it's going to happen? I wouldn't bet on it.

CHANGES:

Viva Purple:

-Rush hour branch to travel on Highway 7 between Town Centre & Kennedy. (bypassing Downtown Markham)

-Shortened western terminus to end at Richmond Hill Centre

Viva Pink:

-Extended eastern terminus to end at McCowan/Highway 7 (due to Viva Green reroute)

Viva Orange:

-Extended western terminus to end at Highway 50/Highway 7

-Extended eastern terminus to end at Richmond Hill Centre

-Additional branch to Finch Station via New Westminster, Clark, Yonge

Viva Green:

-Rerouted from Don Mills Station to Bathurst/Major Mackenzie via Leslie/Major Mackenzie

Viva Silver:

-New service from Vaughan Metropolitan Centre Station to Newkirk/Major Mackenzie via Jane/Major Mackenzie/Vaughan Mills

Viva Yellow:

-New service from Newmarket Terminal to Highway 404/Davis.

[collegekid13]

How the hell is every 75 minutes considered bus service in a city of a couple hundred thousand? And they want people to pay $3.75 for that. Lol wut?

Though I do agree that 2017 Viva map is very interesting.

[Halloween]

I am GLAD to be in Brampton though I still have the displeasure of having to take YRT on my commute.

According to the description, on the first page, they are restructuring routes to make it fit it better with the grid system. I see VERY little evidence of that here. I take the 20 everyday, thats a route that be gridlined completely and be made more attractive to commuters. No mention of that here. Before Zum, I would take the 77 daily and it would be packed, I see no mention of increasing its frequency.

What's up with routes like the 28? That is such incredibly inefficient route to have.

The viva 2017 plan is astounding! After spending all that money on rapidways on Enterprise Drive, they NOW finally get the brains to reroute viva purple onto Highway 7. For some reason they are planning keep Highway 7 divided between two viva routes. What is even the point of viva yellow? Why couldn't they just extend viva blue?

What needs to happen in York Region is a complete overhaul of the transit system. They should start with a brand new clean slate and create a true grid system with minimum 30 minute frequencies. Severely reduce the rural and community routes frequencies or just completely abolish some of them all together unless serious demand is there for it.

Final note: Viva Orange seems to be dud now. Why doesn't YRT get off its high horse and contract Brampton Transit to provide service along that corridor. That would be mutually beneficial to both municipalities and give Bramptonians a connection to the subway until it is extended int Vaugahn.

[D. DeLarge]

Found this in an ad while surfing the web. It looks like they didn't even photoshop out the Viva branding when they photoshopped the ad on :

[vivablue5215]

I am GLAD to be in Brampton though I still have the displeasure of having to take YRT on my commute.

According to the description, on the first page, they are restructuring routes to make it fit it better with the grid system. I see VERY little evidence of that here. I take the 20 everyday, thats a route that be gridlined completely and be made more attractive to commuters. No mention of that here. Before Zum, I would take the 77 daily and it would be packed, I see no mention of increasing its frequency.

I believe route 20 is gridlined completely during weekends.

I agree route 77 needs a frequency increase, but what can I do...I emailed YRT several times (as well as the 20), they've instead reduced the frequencies.

What's up with routes like the 28? That is such incredibly inefficient route to have.

Serves the Vaughan Enterprise Zone. It actually gets a somewhat decent load during shift changes.

The viva 2017 plan is astounding! After spending all that money on rapidways on Enterprise Drive, they NOW finally get the brains to reroute viva purple onto Highway 7. For some reason they are planning keep Highway 7 divided between two viva routes. What is even the point of viva yellow? Why couldn't they just extend viva blue?

I don't even know why Purple is being rerouted on Hwy 7 AFTER the rapidways are open, but mind you that plan is by no means final.

Dividing Highway 7 between two Viva routes makes sense in terms of improving reliability. I certainly wouldn't want a single route going between Hwy 50 and Cornell. I'm also glad they're examining a Viva link between Finch and Promenade. This can also be applied to Viva Blue, which is already one of the longest routes in the system.

I actually wonder though if Viva Blue and Viva Yellow would interline...

What needs to happen in York Region is a complete overhaul of the transit system. They should start with a brand new clean slate and create a true grid system with minimum 30 minute frequencies. Severely reduce the rural and community routes frequencies or just completely abolish some of them all together unless serious demand is there for it.

Complete overhaul of the transit system and the management team up at 50 High Tech.

Final note: Viva Orange seems to be dud now. Why doesn't YRT get off its high horse and contract Brampton Transit to provide service along that corridor. That would be mutually beneficial to both municipalities and give Bramptonians a connection to the subway until it is extended int Vaugahn.

Well as discussed already they are planning to extend Viva Orange to either (both?) RHC and Finch.

[Gil]

I actually wonder though if Viva Blue and Viva Yellow would interline...

The revised Viva Green and new Viva Silver look like the could interline as well, otherwise you'd have really high service levels along the common section of Major Mackenzie. The Viva Yellow seems more of a local branch of Viva Blue.

The premise of Brampton's Züm buses was to get people to York U and the eventual subway extension. Given that their service levels seem much better than Viva Orange, why not simply hand the western end over to Brampton. If they want to maintain the Viva nomenclature, it could be shown as a de facto Viva Red. That leaves two short stumps for what's left of the Viva Orange service which could be incorporated into the Viva Silver if it's not merged with Viva Green since they're both slated to start in 2016. One less if Viva Purple continued to Vaughan Metro Centre.

[vivablue5215]

The revised Viva Green and new Viva Silver look like the could interline as well, otherwise you'd have really high service levels along the common section of Major Mackenzie.

Major Mackenzie is identified as a primary growth corridor according to the Richmond Hill Official Plan. I wonder if that has anything to do with it.

[Halloween]

I believe route 20 is gridlined completely during weekends.

I agree route 77 needs a frequency increase, but what can I do...I emailed YRT several times (as well as the 20), they've instead reduced the frequencies.

Its mostly gridlined on weekends except for the diversion down melville north of rutherford.

Serves the Vaughan Enterprise Zone. It actually gets a somewhat decent load during shift changes.

Im surprised that such a small route can get a good load of people. If it is well used then they should keep it.

I don't even know why Purple is being rerouted on Hwy 7 AFTER the rapidways are open, but mind you that plan is by no means final.

Dividing Highway 7 between two Viva routes makes sense in terms of improving reliability. I certainly wouldn't want a single route going between Hwy 50 and Cornell. I'm also glad they're examining a Viva link between Finch and Promenade. This can also be applied to Viva Blue, which is already one of the longest routes in the system.

I actually wonder though if Viva Blue and Viva Yellow would interline...

If they are able to do it on Major Mackenzie and Rutherford, then they should be able to have a full east west link from Markham to Vaughan. The biggest problem however that I see with the new routing is that all those people in Markham who go to York U will have an extra transfer in addition to the transfer at the subway.

Well as discussed already they are planning to extend Viva Orange to either (both?) RHC and Finch.

How can they stomach to call it a Orange a BRT when its weekend frequency can drop to 42 minutes? That is worse that one of the small community routes that run in Brampton.

[vivablue5215]

If they are able to do it on Major Mackenzie and Rutherford, then they should be able to have a full east west link from Markham to Vaughan..

Except they're splitting Major Mackenzie and Rutherford in two this year as well.

How can they stomach to call it a Orange a BRT when its weekend frequency can drop to 42 minutes? That is worse that one of the small community routes that run in Brampton.

I hope YRT doesn't keep the 42 minutes frequency when (if) they extend Orange east...

[TheAverageJoe]

This is totally unbelievable. I see two changes that make sense, all the rest are terrible and will only contribute to the decline of YRT/Viva as a viable transportation option within the region. How can you possibly claim that your plan aims to "double transit market share by 2031" while reducing service levels and service hours across the board? I can't get over the number of changes where "2-3 passengers are affected. If these numbers were accompanied by the number of passengers convenienced by or benefiting from the changes, everyone would be able to see through the smoke and mirror game that YRT is playing with this plan. Shame on YRT/Viva and any staff or consultants who contributed to this service destruction plan.

Cut backs due to cuts in funding from the Region for all departments. Sounds like taxes did not keep up with growth to keep up services for all departments not just transit. Brampton , Oakville and Mississuaga seem to fair better with keeping up with growth.

[vivablue5215]

Sounds like taxes did not keep up with growth to keep up services for all departments not just transit. Brampton , Oakville and Mississuaga seem to fair better with keeping up with growth.

York Region has some of the highest taxes in the region, higher than Peel or Halton Regions. The problem is that the region isn't utilizing the tax revenue efficiently, not spending in services that benefit its residents. Hence why York Region currently has the highest per capita debt in the province at $1,615.

I'll also add, the chair of York Region, Bill Fisch, earned more money than former mayor David Miller.

[elliott]

A BRT route... running every 42 minutes?

ROFL!!! And that for $3.75 cash fare!

But seriously, just let Brampton Transit run the service and repurpose the Orange to serve Finch like what they are planning to do with Green. While we're in there, extend the Orange westward to Highway 50 to capture 501A and Brampton riders as well.

I hope YRT doesn't keep the 42 minutes frequency when (if) they extend Orange east...

EDIT: Coincidentally, 77's Sunday frequency is 42 minutes as well! Some signs of bad luck in there!

[D. DeLarge]

It shouldn't fall to another region's transit agency to run adequate service for York Region just because they won't.

How the strike was handled (read: dragged on for months on end) says a lot about the region's priorities when it comes to transit.

[YRT601]

The only service proposal I like from this, is the merge of 40/41and revised routing to service the hospital. It offers me another way to get to M-S.

[Milton]

You may like the fact that you now have alternatives to get to the hospital but the changes to the routes are some of the strangest I have ever seen. Whole communities are being left without service or are being forced to take two buses. In particular, the subsidized housing around Roddick and Woodbine, and the Father Andre/Fincham loop. This is where the majority of the ridership comes from. Add to that, the new 40/41 route no longer services Markville Mall. It won't be long before YRT cancels this route entirely because of low ridership.

[vivablue5215]

You may like the fact that you now have alternatives to get to the hospital but the changes to the routes are some of the strangest I have ever seen. Whole communities are being left without service or are being forced to take two buses. In particular, the subsidized housing around Rodick and Woodbine, and the Brother Andre/Fincham loop. This is where the majority of the ridership comes from. Add to that, the new 40/41 route no longer services Markville Mall. It won't be long before YRT cancels this route entirely because of low ridership.

I used to live on Rodick north of 16th. I would've gone from 7-day a week service to no service if I hadn't moved to Cornell. I regretted it at first, but now looking at the 2014 plans I don't anymore.

[YRT601]

You may like the fact that you now have alternatives to get to the hospital but the changes to the routes are some of the strangest I have ever seen. Whole communities are being left without service or are being forced to take two buses. In particular, the subsidized housing around Roddick and Woodbine, and the Father Andre/Fincham loop. This is where the majority of the ridership comes from. Add to that, the new 40/41 route no longer services Markville Mall. It won't be long before YRT cancels this route entirely because of low ridership.

I used to live on Rodick north of 16th. I would've gone from 7-day a week service to no service if I hadn't moved to Cornell. I regretted it at first, but now looking at the 2014 plans I don't anymore.

On the front page of the My Transit newsletter, It says "We're listening [...]" Listening to what? If they were actually listening, we would have a much better transit system. For example, they're getting rid of the last 3 departures on the 18 this year, which means I would have to take the 4A then walk 15 minutes because I can no longer take the 8:44 departure from the hospital. If you look at it, we haven't seen much helpful additions, just things taken away from us, whether routes being cancelled, or frequencies being decreased. There is a reason people don't take Transit here in York Region, because it's simply Garbage with nice busses. We need someone who can fix / make our transit better. And the best way to start is by getting rid of this private garbage, because clearly it's only making things much more complicated.

There is no point in the post, just simply ranting. Rant over Time to catch my bus!

[Gil]

On the front page of the My Transit newsletter, It says "We're listening [...]" Listening to what? If they were actually listening, we would have a much better transit system.

. . .

There is no point in the post, just simply ranting. Rant over Time to catch my bus!

They were probably listening to all the people who were complaining about empty buses running around through their neighbourhoods!

[YRT601]

They were probably listening to all the people who were complaining about empty buses running around through their neighbourhoods!

Haha! I like that one!

[York Transit]

http://www.yorkregion.com/news-story/2513339-feedback-sought-on-possible-stouffville-bus-route

I definitely like this route.

Probably a fast way to get to Yonge Street from Stouffville, and from there you can basically go wherever you want.

[Articulated]

http://www.yorkregio...ville-bus-route

I definitely like this route.

Probably a fast way to get to Yonge Street from Stouffville, and from there you can basically go wherever you want.

So many errors in that article...

Also that YRT map is not named correctly; Ballantrae is a community 4km north of Stouffville, not served by the new 15; Gormely is the name of the community that the new 15 will pass through (Stouffville Sideroad between Woodbine and Leslie).