YRT/Viva Construction Thread (Rapidways, Terminals)

[raptor]

The vivaNext site has updated the project map to show that the Highway 7 Curbside stations between Warden and Kennedy are now under construction in [2017] with no *. Viva Curbside Station Construction has it's [2018-2020] timeline removed. It also shows the Highway 7 West Rapidway from Jane to Barrie GO (the bridge) is now open. Shows Post Rd. stop instead of Market stop. Also the Stouffville Line line looks more accurate and the Barrie Line line actually goes through Downsview Park Station. This one's very minor, the Leslie St jog at Stouffville Rd is now shown .

One thing that bothers me is that this still says December 2016 and not Spring 2018:

Yonge rapidway to be complete by 2020, and not 2018 (as per last Metrolinx board meeting).

 

[Leo_Chan]

Yonge rapidway to be complete by 2020, and not 2018 (as per last Metrolinx board meeting).

Well the Metrolinx meeting took place after this map revision, so that's probably why the date change is not on it.

 

[Megaton327]

The vivaNext site has updated the project map to show that the Highway 7 Curbside stations between Warden and Kennedy are now under construction in [2017] with no *. Viva Curbside Station Construction has it's [2018-2020] timeline removed. It also shows the Highway 7 West Rapidway from Jane to Barrie GO (the bridge) is now open. Shows Post Rd. stop instead of Market stop. Also the Stouffville Line line looks more accurate and the Barrie Line line actually goes through Downsview Park Station. This one's very minor, the Leslie St jog at Stouffville Rd is now shown .

One thing that bothers me is that this still says December 2016 and not Spring 2018:

They also show the Richmond Hill line extending up to Bloomington GO, which is scheduled to open 2019.

 

[Leo_Chan]

They also show the Richmond Hill line extending up to Bloomington GO, which is scheduled to open 2019.

That's been there for over a year already.

 

[amnesiajune]

That's been there for over a year already.

Only to the Gormley station, at Leslie & Stouffville. There's another station planned at 404 & Bloomington.

 

[Leo_Chan]

Only to the Gormley station, at Leslie & Stouffville. There's another station planned at 404 & Bloomington.

I mean on the vivaNext project map. Bloomington GO Station was already on the map, the Richmond Hill Line green line stopped there.

 

[Leo_Chan]

Site has been updated with the new Yonge Rapidway timeline, and updated YNSE alignment (looks awkward and more real life), Bathurst -> Bathurst/Hwy7, Promenade -> Disera-Promenade, Centre -> Taiga, Davis -> Yonge/Davis, Cornell is now in its proper geographic location (looks weird).

 

[Woodbridge_Heights]

Honestly I wonder if VIVA shouldn't run on the 427 and terminate at the Airport. It may add some extra running time but would make some sense from a network connectivity point of view.

They are putting transit lanes in the 427 expansion anyway, why not use them.

 

[amnesiajune]

Honestly I wonder if VIVA shouldn't run on the 427 and terminate at the Airport. It may add some extra running time but would make some sense from a network connectivity point of view.

I doubt it makes sense from a cost & benefit view. It would be an extra 24 km and 30-45 minutes from the Highway 50 station for the bus to stop at both terminals and come back, and I can't see many people who want to go to the airport from Woodbridge on local public transit. The TTC's airport buses have atrocious ridership (their cost recovery is 32%, Viva Purple's is around 70%), and most of the people using those buses are airport & airline employees, not passengers.

 

[smallspy]

The TTC's airport buses have atrocious ridership (their cost recovery is 32%, Viva Purple's is around 70%), and most of the people using those buses are airport & airline employees, not passengers.

Ridership does not equate to cost recovery. The reason for the poor cost recovery is that the route is essentially a bridge - people get on and one end, and off at the other. There is no capability for intermediate traffic.

And it's quite obvious that you've never used it if you think that's the case.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

 

[amnesiajune]

Ridership does not equate to cost recovery.

The TTC calculates cost recovery based on ridership. They use a flat figure of $1.30 per boarding, which is the system-wide average. The 192 bus costs $4.00 per boarding to operate.

The reason for the poor cost recovery is that the route is essentially a bridge - people get on and one end, and off at the other. There is no capability for intermediate traffic.

Viva wouldn't have that capability either. It would have to go down The Gore, Albion, Humberline, Finch and the 427 without any intermediate stops.

And it's quite obvious that you've never used it if you think that's the case.

The TTC are the ones who say their bus has hardly any riders who are actually paying airline passengers.

 

[LNahid2000]

The TTC are the ones who say their bus has hardly any riders who are actually paying airline passengers.

Proof please? Why do I always see people with huge pieces of luggage on there then? And why did they bother to switch to a fleet of buses that has luggage racks if mainly airport employees are taking the bus?

 

[amnesiajune]

Proof please? Why do I always see people with huge pieces of luggage on there then?

From the Star's interview with Andy Byford and Brad Ross back in 2014:

About 4,500 people a day take the 192 bus known as the Airport Rocket. Many of them are airport workers. But avid travellers, including TTC CEO Andy Byford, also avail themselves of the bus that is fitted with luggage racks and makes only three stops between both Pearson terminals and Kipling Station. ... “We want people to use the service. We want people to know the TTC is an option for anyone who wants to go to the airport,” [Ross] said.

The 192's ridership is 4,500/day, or an average of 19 per trip, which is barely more than half of the bus's seated capacity. For comparison, UPX moves 7,500/day to the airport, and there aren't many airport employees who use it because of cost. YRT wouldn't even get a tiny fraction of the TTC's 4,500 to take Viva to the airport, which raises the question (again): How does the cost justify the benefits of the service?

And why did they bother to switch to a fleet of buses that has luggage racks if mainly airport employees are taking the bus?

They did it mostly because of safety concerns about luggage moving around while the bus drives on the 427. Those concerns actually led to moving the bus completely off the 427 in 2009, which made the trip 15 minutes longer, then using a new (slower, albeit less so) route on the 427 that avoided lane changes. The luggage racks were put in in 2013 so that the bus could go back to the original route, as a part of the TTC's initiatives to promote the bus service.

 

[cplchanb]

On a side note, they are starting to add the springy dividers along the warden to woodbine stretch of hwy 7 to separate the bike lane from the cars
I wonder how long ir woukd take to get the rest of the road done

 

[LNahid2000]

From the Star's interview with Andy Byford and Brad Ross back in 2014:

"About 4,500 people a day take the 192 bus known as the Airport Rocket. Many of them are airport workers."

That doesn't really say anything about the numbers. "Many" could mean anything.