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21 hours ago, Cityflyer said:

Anyone know if the Cornell Terminal will be open by the end of 2020? Or will it be super delayed like the Vaughan Smart Centre Terminal.

Vivanext has it listed as 75% completion as of today.

I’d be doubtful about that. I do drive past every now and then, and if my memory is correct, it’s still just a big metal structure in the middle of a field and doesn’t look to me that it’s near completion 

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1 hour ago, Gamer Studios said:

where is this located exactly?

Highway 7 between Ninth Line and Bur Oak Avenue. South of Markham Stouffville Hospital.

Construction of the new facility began in Summer 2018 with a 2020 opening. Noting that it took many years to acquire an area that can accommodate a bus terminal going back to at a planned 2008 opening. 

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Service changes beginning November 1 have been released- major changes below:

  • Effective November 2, route 305- Copper Creek Express begins service
  • Route 18 off-peak service during midday on weekdays will be replaced by Mobility on Request Bur Oak (same model as routes 40/41), with Saturday service discontinued
  • Some conventional mainline services are seeing reduced frequencies due to lower than expected ridership; most mainline routes are maintaining a full schedule
  • Special weekday service on route 760 on Black Friday and December 14-18 to handle holiday shopping demand at Vaughan Mills

Ironically, there are no changes for Viva routes and therefore maintains the COVID-19 schedule

Source: https://www.yrt.ca/en/schedules-and-maps/service-changes.aspx

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49 minutes ago, yrt1000 said:

Happy for that Box Grove express bus, but disappointed those route 9 improvements, as well as the more frequent service on routes 1 and 16 only lasted 2 months ?

 

i think the improvements they proposed was in hope that the covid situation improves and service gets better, but clearly many are still turned off transit. sucks but understandable

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I posed this question on the Spadina Extension thread, in light of the lack of a fare/transfer agreement between the TTC and YRT, would YRT consider adding some sort of supplemental service between VMC and Hwy. 407 to be able to better connect with the GO Transit routes there?  There's still plenty of room at the station if a branch of VIVA Orange ran down.  The VIVA Silver (just merge it with the Green and make an inverted U to mirror the subway!) that was originally planned to run down Jane St. but terminate at VMC should continue to Hwy. 407 if it ever gets launched and no agreement with the TTC is in place.  I managed to walk between the two stations faster than the 20 JANE service!  Accessing the Hwy. 407 station on foot is another issue altogether.

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On 10/8/2020 at 8:21 PM, Orion V said:

Will 1501-1509 be transferred back to conventional service now that new artics are in service for the conventional fleet?

1501-1509 are still in conventional service, as they do not see service on any Viva lines.

Since I presume you mean transferred from the BRT garage back to Southeast (or another division), that likely won't happen. The 2xx Van Hool artics are retiring as the 20xx New Flyer artics enter service. While there will be a couple additional artics once all units are in service, there won't be enough artics to equip all runs (and cover buses) on the 90 and 90B. Currently with the pandemic schedules in place since September, the LFS go out on all four 90B runs during AM and PM peak, as well as frequent usage as the dedicated route 90 cover buses. Before COVID-19, the LFS would also be assigned to some 90 runs that don't hit either the schools or peak times in the business park; they're cheaper to run than artics.

On 10/9/2020 at 1:39 PM, Gil said:

I posed this question on the Spadina Extension thread, in light of the lack of a fare/transfer agreement between the TTC and YRT, would YRT consider adding some sort of supplemental service between VMC and Hwy. 407 to be able to better connect with the GO Transit routes there?  There's still plenty of room at the station if a branch of VIVA Orange ran down.  The VIVA Silver (just merge it with the Green and make an inverted U to mirror the subway!) that was originally planned to run down Jane St. but terminate at VMC should continue to Hwy. 407 if it ever gets launched and no agreement with the TTC is in place.  I managed to walk between the two stations faster than the 20 JANE service!  Accessing the Hwy. 407 station on foot is another issue altogether.

My personal belief is that Highway 407 Station was originally designed as the only bus terminal on the north end of the TYSSE. However, York Region either wanted a larger "presence" in VMC, or had the belief that buses must always connect to the end terminal station (and not another nearby station), leading to the decision to build of the (massively oversized) bus terminal there after the subway had already been designed and partially under construction.

I 100% agree that Highway 407 Station could/should have been used as the one station for all bus connections. Local routes such as 10 and 26 could easily have been routed through VMC, providing transit service closer to areas in the periphery of the Centre (that are close to/past 500m walking distance from the subway station).

This would have been less of an issue if there had been proper fare integration between TTC and YRT for stations within York Region, which the subway infrastructure had been designed to account for; however, since those discussions seemed to fall apart at the end, we're stuck with a gap between the stations, and YRT needing to continue running route 20 between the three stations to provide some level of YRT-fare service to those stations.

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On 10/15/2020 at 9:52 PM, Articulated said:

My personal belief is that Highway 407 Station was originally designed as the only bus terminal on the north end of the TYSSE. However, York Region either wanted a larger "presence" in VMC, or had the belief that buses must always connect to the end terminal station (and not another nearby station), leading to the decision to build of the (massively oversized) bus terminal there after the subway had already been designed and partially under construction.

I 100% agree that Highway 407 Station could/should have been used as the one station for all bus connections. Local routes such as 10 and 26 could easily have been routed through VMC, providing transit service closer to areas in the periphery of the Centre (that are close to/past 500m walking distance from the subway station).

This would have been less of an issue if there had been proper fare integration between TTC and YRT for stations within York Region, which the subway infrastructure had been designed to account for; however, since those discussions seemed to fall apart at the end, we're stuck with a gap between the stations, and YRT needing to continue running route 20 between the three stations to provide some level of YRT-fare service to those stations.

The initial set of condos at VMC (the community, not the station) are east of Jane, which is somewhat inconvenient for accessing the subway despite the marketing.  If anyone needs to access the GO Transit network, it's going to be via the 20 JANE which would be closer.  You can access just about as much of the GTA from there as you could from Yorkdale if you were to ride the subway further south.  As more of VMC is redeveloped I'm not quite sure where additional condos if any will go.  They will be required if they want to maintain a vibrant "downtown" along with the proposed commercial and offices.

I did notice on Metrolinx' website while looking for a listing of the platform allocations for the Hwy. 407 Terminal either the VIVA Silver or Steeles BRT running on Jane between Hwy. 7 and Steeles.  YRT has deferred the implementation of VIVA Silver, but would it make more sense to extend it down to Pioneer Village Station rather than VMC as originally planned?  I don't know who Metrolinx had in mind to operate the Steeles BRT corridor without first sorting out some sort of fare-sharing agreement between the TTC and YRT.  A Steeles BRT would certainly connect with York U and the subway at Pioneer Village, but would it be logical to extend it up Jane to better connect with GO and YRT which would create a redundancy to the subway unless the wider VMC redevelopment required an additional transit outlet.

What I'm trying to get at is for all of the regional connections Hwy. 407 offers through GO Transit (and to a lesser extent Ontario Northland), it seems odd that there's only one YRT route serving the station.  At the very least as the southern end of VMC is redeveloped, they should really take a look at improving walk-in access from the north.

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14 hours ago, Gil said:

The initial set of condos at VMC (the community, not the station) are east of Jane, which is somewhat inconvenient for accessing the subway despite the marketing. 

2 buildings at Jane/Portage to the subway is 500m - what is inconvenient about that?  All of the other building under construction are closer than that.  Given that the 20 is every 15 min it's be faster to walk than to wait for the bus and then ride that bus through all of the turns that it has to do to get to the station.

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1 hour ago, Mike said:

2 buildings at Jane/Portage to the subway is 500m - what is inconvenient about that?  All of the other building under construction are closer than that.  Given that the 20 is every 15 min it's be faster to walk than to wait for the bus and then ride that bus through all of the turns that it has to do to get to the station.

I was referring to the Expo City Towers closer to Creditstone.  With more towers going up in that area it may skew demand depending on how much parking is provided for each condo.  I presume all of the surface parking lots immediately around the VMC station are interim uses until they are developed into office or condo towers.

Would it be possible (probably with YRT footing the bill) for the exit turnstiles at VMC, Hwy. 407 and possibly Pioneer Village to require a tap out?  Transferring to a YRT route wouldn't require a separate fare and would open up the GO co-fare at Hwy. 407 if it were treated as part of YRT rather than the TTC.  PRESTO should be smart enough to determine that you haven't entered Toronto.  Conversely, the TTC could also impose a Zone 3 fare if they wanted to squeeze more revenue from the northern stops which would probably open another can of worms in the fare integration saga.

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45 minutes ago, Gil said:

I was referring to the Expo City Towers closer to Creditstone.  With more towers going up in that area it may skew demand depending on how much parking is provided for each condo.  I presume all of the surface parking lots immediately around the VMC station are interim uses until they are developed into office or condo towers.

Those are 600m from the station still a reasonable walking distance given that people settling there are unlikely to be seniors (nothing to do up there in a semi commercial/industrial area).  A reasonably young/fit person can walk to the station in under 10 minutes.  I would say anything within 10 minute walk of the subway could be pitched/marketed as being at the subway. 

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York Region Transit is starting to remove the ticket validators. Off-hand I know the three rapidway stations along Davis Drive have been removed. Not sure about the other three (Huron Heights, Leslie and Highway 404 Park and Ride). Instead redirecting people to retain their ticket until they reach a terminal or transfer onto a conventional bus.

Encouraging people to use them up noting that starting January 1, 2021 they are no longer valid. On top, no refund or transfer to a Presto card will be provided. 

 

IMG_3468.jpg

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A report going to Council next week is recommending awarding the operations contract for the North and Southwest divisions to TOK Transit. While Transdev had the lower bid cost, TOK had the highest technical score and the lowest cost per technical point.

TOK already operates the North contract, which expires April 30, 2021; they would take over the SW contract on August 1, 2021. The combined contract will last for 7 years until August 1, 2028, and is extendable for an additional 3 years after that.

Next contract up will be the Southeast contract in 2023, which is expected to be consolidated with BRT at the existing Orlando facility.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Transit operator training is starting today for the new rapidway between Richmond Hill Centre to 19th/Gamble (6.5 kilometre stretch).

http://www.vivanext.com/assets/emailAssets/CB_Y2_2020_11_09/CB_Y2_2020_11_09_BeReady

Here is the FAQ:

http://www.vivanext.com/y2FAQ#q1

Still scheduled to be in revenue service next month. Once a date is confirmed, it will be shared via media release. 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Service changes effective December 20th:

Route 7 Martin Grove: Re-routed due to a long term closure at Humber Boulevard and Highway 27

Northbound trips will detour on Highway 27 to Finch Avenue, west on Finch Avenue, and south on Humber College Boulevard to Humber College.

Southbound trips will detour north on Humber College Boulevard from Humber College, east on Finch Avenue, and south on Highway 27.

Route 50 Queensway: Service to the ROC on weekends/holidays until 1 PM upon request ONLY. If departing from The ROC, contact 1-844-667-5327 with 60 minutes of notice to ensure the operator of the next departure is aware to service the stop. Weekdays: Mobility on Request North provides service instead of 50.

If the ROC is closed, the service to the ROC will be cancelled. 

Route 165/165F Weston: Schedules adjusted

Route 760 Vaughan Mills/Wonderland: Will run weekdays when the mall is open and correspond with mall hours. January 4th is when 760 will suspend weekday service and revert back to weekend/holiday operations. 

High school routes suspended during the Christmas break. 

Christmas Eve and New Years Eve: Express routes (300 series) will have adjusted afternoon departure times

 

Service changes effective January 3rd:

Route 32 Aurora South: 11:05 AM trip will no longer deviate to high school, service to Aurora Go Station be provided on-street instead of entering the station due to decreased connections with Go Train departures and schedules adjusted to compensate 

Route 81 Inspiration, 82 Valleymede and 83 Trench: High school trip adjustments 

Route 107/107B Keele: Trip adjustment northbound to start at Pioneer Village instead of Keele and Rutherford during the early morning hours (107). 107B will depart from Pioneer Village at 5:34 AM and from Rutherford Go Station at 6 AM.

Route 760: Weekend operations only matching with mall hours. No weekday service. 

Routes 401, 402, 416 to 418, 426, 443 to 447 and 450 (school special routes): Reduction of trips with some only operating one or two to better match demand. 

 

EDIT: There will be NO extended or free New Years Eve service. Tweet attached and post updated.

 

Edited by GTAmissions1
New Years Eve service change
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  • 2 weeks later...
28 minutes ago, Enzo Aquarius said:

VIN shows the unit as 8203; they started retiring the 82** series?

Most likely since they are reaching their 12 year lifecycle. Especially since the 72xx buses have been retired roughly a year ago after reaching their 12 year life cycle. Usually if you see a bus on an auction website, it is retired and selling to any interested buyers willing to take it on.

The end of an era for the AG300 buses in York Region. AG300s on conventional service have been replaced with the XD60s. 

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1 hour ago, GTAmissions1 said:

Most likely since they are reaching their 12 year lifecycle. Especially since the 72xx buses have been retired roughly a year ago after reaching their 12 year life cycle. Usually if you see a bus on an auction website, it is retired and selling to any interested buyers willing to take it on.

The end of an era for the AG300 buses in York Region. AG300s on conventional service have been replaced with the XD60s. 

If you look carefully though, you can see that it was involved in some sort of accident too.

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Looking over the website, looks like they specialize in auctioning vehicles written-off in accidents, so it was likely written off with that sideswipe to the right side.

Nonetheless, wouldn't be surprised to see the 82**s start retiring early next year in line with the 72**s earlier this year.

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