York Region Transit \ Viva

[Neoupa2002]

So many cuts...I hope by cutting the route in half they can actually have buses meet for direct connections.

[* Mr. Black *]

Indeed. Especially the "Transfer" part.

now the "smart" thing to do would make the eastbound Orange loop in the TTC platform area, maybe drop-offs only then continue back westbound....... but then again.......

[vivablue5215]

So many cuts...I hope by cutting the route in half they can actually have buses meet for direct connections.

In terms of Sundays, 15 minute wait times between the 16 and 85.

Didn't check weekdays or Saturdays.

[Enzo Aquarius]

YRT Service Changes for June 30 are now up: http://yrt.ca/en/ser...vicechanges.asp

Route 50B will be operated by a minivan.

If it gets busy, they better be ready to switch out for a normal bus. Depending on frequency too, it may leave a lot of people waiting for a long time for the next trip...

Route 244 - Beaver Creek Shuttle will be reinstated to replace Route 85B service.

Woohoo! YRT's best route is back!

Also, looks like they're moving Route 22A's stop at York University from the northbound platform to the southbound platform (served by Viva Orange and Purple). Likely south to Chimneystack and returning out to Keele via York Boulevard.

[smallspy]

Likely south to Chimneystack and returning out to Keele via York Boulevard.

Wouldn't they already be doing that with VIVA Purple then?

No, they will be running west along Steeles, south on Founders, then east/south on Ian MacDonald.

Dan

[Halloween]

Wouldn't they already be doing that with VIVA Purple then?

No, they will be running west along Steeles, south on Founders, then east/south on Ian MacDonald.

Dan

Ive wondered this for a while. Does York Univeristy not allow buses through Chimney Stack?

[dj.surf.lfs]

Wouldn't they already be doing that with VIVA Purple then?

No, they will be running west along Steeles, south on Founders, then east/south on Ian MacDonald.

Dan

The Schedule Finder says otherwise:

[ttcfan]

Staff and visitors to Wonderland will be disappointed that Route 20 will no longer service the terminal there. At closing time, passenger loads can get quite heavy. The Jane St stops will be rather crowded at that time. The Melville routing enabled buses to bypass the heavy traffic going into the park on weekends. Now it will be tricky to service the southbound stops when lots of cars are lined to enter the park on Jane. Interesting times ahead.

[Halloween]

Staff and visitors to Wonderland will be disappointed that Route 20 will no longer service the terminal there. At closing time, passenger loads can get quite heavy. The Jane St stops will be rather crowded at that time. The Melville routing enabled buses to bypass the heavy traffic going into the park on weekends. Now it will be tricky to service the southbound stops when lots of cars are lined to enter the park on Jane. Interesting times ahead.

I work at the park, Ive written to and have a scheduled phone call with a service planner to discuss the changes. The 20 already is a pretty terrible route but getting rid of the stop at WL is going to take away its one luxury. They claim gridlining but I dont see them removing the detour through Edgley and Millway which adds much more time to the commute and generates less trips than Wonderland.

On another note, I never considered how The Mville detour allows the bus to bypass the traffic on Jane. Even then, it a significant amount of time to my commute. From a very selfish perspective, I would be happy if the changes to Melville continued to go ahead but the Wonderland stop was maintained. I dont know how this going to affect people on Melville though (they are getting a new local route for that area).

Finally, I am happy to see Saturday frequency is being bumped up to 20 minutes.

[vivablue5215]

I work at the park, Ive written to and have a scheduled phone call with a service planner to discuss the changes. The 20 already is a pretty terrible route but getting rid of the stop at WL is going to take away its one luxury. They claim gridlining but I dont see them removing the detour through Edgley and Millway which adds much more time to the commute and generates less trips than Wonderland.

The Edgeley and Millway detour is only during weekdays, and during weekdays it is somewhat necessary to serve the industrial area there.

[Halloween]

The Edgeley and Millway detour is only during weekdays, and during weekdays it is somewhat necessary to serve the industrial area there.

The walk from Jane to Millway is shorter than the walk across the Wonderland parking lot into the employee area. If they were going to claim gridling for why they are removing the WL terminal, then they should be getting rid of the Millway detour too because it can be accessed more easily from Jane.

[smallspy]

Ive wondered this for a while. Does York Univeristy not allow buses through Chimney Stack?

Not on a regular basis, no.

Dan

[YRT-Guy]

The walk from Jane to Millway is shorter than the walk across the Wonderland parking lot into the employee area. If they were going to claim gridling for why they are removing the WL terminal, then they should be getting rid of the Millway detour too because it can be accessed more easily from Jane.

I'm sorry, but as someone who at one point drove the 20 with the detour into the park, this "detour" removal is long overdue. All of the passengers that have ever boarded my route 20 bus at the Wonderland stop have been young and very able bodied to be able to walk at most 5 minutes to Jane. The "detour" can take as much as 10-15 minutes sometimes when you consider going into the park, looping around that loop, sometimes getting stuck in by other buses and large crowds and other cars, in addition to loading the bus and waiting to make that left or right back onto Jane. Keeping the bus out of Wonderland is a blessing and I wish it never did go in there to begin with. Wonderland employees have simply been spoiled IMO.

[Halloween]

I'm sorry, but as someone who at one point drove the 20 with the detour into the park, this "detour" removal is long overdue. All of the passengers that have ever boarded my route 20 bus at the Wonderland stop have been young and very able bodied to be able to walk at most 5 minutes to Jane. The "detour" can take as much as 10-15 minutes sometimes when you consider going into the park, looping around that loop, sometimes getting stuck in by other buses and large crowds and other cars, in addition to loading the bus and waiting to make that left or right back onto Jane. Keeping the bus out of Wonderland is a blessing and I wish it never did go in there to begin with. Wonderland employees have simply been spoiled IMO.

Its not seniors using the Edgley/Millway detour either. If Wonderland is going to be removed its only fair that Edgley be removed. That detour takes much much more than the WL detour and is a smaller trip generator especially during non-peak times. Even Melville has a bigger reason to exist because I do notice a few seniors using that part of the route regularly.

[smallspy]

Its not seniors using the Edgley/Millway detour either. If Wonderland is going to be removed its only fair that Edgley be removed. That detour takes much much more than the WL detour and is a smaller trip generator especially during non-peak times. Even Melville has a bigger reason to exist because I do notice a few seniors using that part of the route regularly.

How do you figure? The Edgeley/Millway detour accounts for at the very least a quarter of the daily ridership of that route, if not more.

Pull the route out of there, and in concert with the cutbacks to the 35D you're going to see a whole lot more people driving to work.

Dan

[* Mr. Black *]

5112 is now 503

[Halloween]

How do you figure? The Edgeley/Millway detour accounts for at the very least a quarter of the daily ridership of that route, if not more.

Pull the route out of there, and in concert with the cutbacks to the 35D you're going to see a whole lot more people driving to work.

Dan

Wonderland easily makes up close to half the ridership on the route, same with Vaughan Mills. With exception of peak times, the Edgley/Millway area picks up few people. The weekday morning buses, usually have good usage through the business area but no where compared to the amount of people getting off at Wonderland and Vaughan Mills.

I'm sorry for being so persistant on this issue. Im usually all for gridlining but this really seems to be not meant to improve transit in the area but rather simply a service cut being branded gridlining and Wonderland is being singled out because the employees that use this terminal wont make a big fuss. If true gridlining took place on the route and travel times were cut significantly, I would be more willing to support removing the Wonderland Terminal (though again, its a huge trip generator) but otherwise I dont see this as a positive development. I have never been a fan of YRT but I am forced to take the 20 almost everyday, with this changes - the one luxury employees had when it came to taking that route is gone. Even if were fine with walking accross the parking lot, YRT most likely will be making us stand next to a pole with no seats, no shelter, minimal lighting, and no security.

All three of the major trip generator for the 20 (Millway, Vaughan Mills, and WL) add significant time to the route. If YRT wants to gridline, then it should gridline broadly. Of course YRT is free to do what it wants and the employees at the park will just accept it and move on (and of course thats why their doing it) but it is proving itself again and again to be worst of worst when it comes to transit providers in the GTA.

[Ber]

5112 is now 503

Does anybody have any photos of the ex-vivas in service or have they not been activated yet?

[Enzo Aquarius]

Does anybody have any photos of the ex-vivas in service or have they not been activated yet?

They have not entered service yet.

5112 is now 503

Sitting at the north end of the Viva garage? Saw her sitting there yesterday.

[6254]

Does it mean that all the renumbered buses are deemed to be surplus (both to VIVA and YRT) and likely to be in storage for more months probably at least until the new school season starts in September?

They have not entered service yet.

Sitting at the north end of the Viva garage? Saw her sitting there yesterday.

[Articulated]

Does it mean that all the renumbered buses are deemed to be surplus (both to VIVA and YRT) and likely to be in storage for more months probably at least until the new school season starts in September?

Apparently they're surplus until the new Nova LFX come in later this year (last I heard it was going to be in the fall), after which time the converted A330s will be released for YRT service and retire the 0xx Vs and 993x VIs. That being said, they've coverted a lot to YRT already, so Viva is probably in a bit of a shortage, although I haven't noticed any artics on 40ft routes yet.

[YRT-Guy]

Its not seniors using the Edgley/Millway detour either. If Wonderland is going to be removed its only fair that Edgley be removed. That detour takes much much more than the WL detour and is a smaller trip generator especially during non-peak times. Even Melville has a bigger reason to exist because I do notice a few seniors using that part of the route regularly.

Was only giving my own opinion. The Millway/Edgely routing doesnt swing completely offroute like that Wonderland off-shoot. And for the most part there are only a few trips in the morning and few in the evening with large loads going to/from wonderland. Rest of the day is pretty dead (at least it was when I was driving it about 4 years ago). But go ahead, keep complaining to YRT. Perhaps you guys will end up getting your own special bus like that route 85A lady who gets her own bus from Rutherford GO (and she only pays 75cents GO co-fare).

[smallspy]

Wonderland easily makes up close to half the ridership on the route, same with Vaughan Mills. With exception of peak times, the Edgley/Millway area picks up few people. The weekday morning buses, usually have good usage through the business area but no where compared to the amount of people getting off at Wonderland and Vaughan Mills.

No it doesn't, not even when Wonderland is open. There are peaks and valleys to the ridership on the route that happen to match up with specific times, like shift changes for the employees at the park, and when the park opens to the public.

I have a question for you: how often do you take the route? What time of day? All year?

For full disclosure, until January I took the route twice each weekday for 5 years. Because my work hours are pretty flexible and sometimes require me to be out of the office, I did use the route any time between 6.30am and 11pm, and sometimes on Saturdays and Sundays. Despite the fact that my office was in the Edgeley/Millway industrial area, I did regularly ride north to Vaughn Mills and Rutherford, and sometimes to Major Mac - so I am very, very well acquainted with the route and the daily travel patterns.

Dan

[Halloween]

No it doesn't, not even when Wonderland is open. There are peaks and valleys to the ridership on the route that happen to match up with specific times, like shift changes for the employees at the park, and when the park opens to the public.

I have a question for you: how often do you take the route? What time of day? All year?

For full disclosure, until January I took the route twice each weekday for 5 years. Because my work hours are pretty flexible and sometimes require me to be out of the office, I did use the route any time between 6.30am and 11pm, and sometimes on Saturdays and Sundays. Despite the fact that my office was in the Edgeley/Millway industrial area, I did regularly ride north to Vaughn Mills and Rutherford, and sometimes to Major Mac - so I am very, very well acquainted with the route and the daily travel patterns.

Dan

I just finished talking to a service planner at YRT and they confirmed what you are saying. I guess whenever I have to go to WL which is almost everyday from April to October, there is a very very big load of people getting off at the park (or getting on). I think that distorted my view of how many trips are generated by the park.

The person I was speaking to informed me that they did consider girdlining the entire route but decided against that because the Edgley detour was very well used and because there is very little on Jane itself in that area.

He did say that he will be requesting an improved waiting area with better shelters and seating along Jane Street for Wonderland. He also took interest in the idea of an alternate route down Jane (ie. 20A) at certain times of day when ridership along the industrial area is minimal.

I, of course, cant do much but accept what he is saying and accept the even less comfortable commute. The only alternate I have to going to WL is to take the GO from Brampton to Yorkdale and then the 60 to Wonderland (which surprisingly takes less time then taking the 501 and 20) but that is too expensive for me. I'll hope for the best, maybe they'll change their mind later.

[Orion9131]

I never understood Brampton Transit's justification for cancelling the 66 to Wonderland. When I used to live in Brampton and took the 66 to Wonderland, the bus was always full. It was a popular way to get to Wonderland from Brampton. It was a 45 minute ride. I can only assume using 501/20 takes much longer.