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YRT/Viva Construction Thread (Rapidways, Terminals)

Yeah so why Thornhill and Markham still have TTC operated routes, those things are like a blast from the past. Every other jurisdiction have their own transit system.
Some people could argue its the same reasoning why 2 branches of the 52 Lawrence west go into Malton to get to Westwood Mall. I guess its for easier access to get into the suburbs of Toronto?
 
Except this actually happens, at a lot of locations:

1. Islington/Kipling Station: MiWay/MiExpress --> TTC
2. Sheppard West Station: YRT -->TTC (Route 105)
3. Wilson Station: YRT --> TTC (160)
4. Finch Station: YRT --> TTC (BLUE, 2, 5, 23, 77, 88, 91, 98, 99, 300, 301, 302, 303, 304, 305)
5. Don Mills Station: YRT --> TTC (GREEN, 24, 90)
6. Warden Station: YRT --> TTC (17A, 68B)
7. STC Station: YRT --> TTC (129A, 102D)
8. North York General
9. Morningside

Do they do it along the entire route, both directions at all stops along the way?
 
Some people could argue its the same reasoning why 2 branches of the 52 Lawrence west go into Malton to get to Westwood Mall. I guess its for easier access to get into the suburbs of Toronto?
IIRC Both the Malton branches and the TTC routes into Thornhill and Markham are contracted to TTC by YRT and Miway, respectively. If the sections outside Toronto were operated as separate routes there would be unnecessary linear transfers and overall worse connectivity, especially because the sections outside Toronto would then no longer have a one-seat ride to the subway and would also be very short bus routes mostly leading nowhere.

This is also why you still get charged a double fare when riding these routes. When you take the TTC routes in Markham, you’re technically on a YRT service that has been contracted to TTC, so you still have to pay the YRT fare + TTC fare if you cross Steeles
 
IIRC Both the Malton branches and the TTC routes into Thornhill and Markham are contracted to TTC by YRT and Miway, respectively. If the sections outside Toronto were operated as separate routes there would be unnecessary linear transfers and overall worse connectivity, especially because the sections outside Toronto would then no longer have a one-seat ride to the subway and would also be very short bus routes mostly leading nowhere.

This is also why you still get charged a double fare when riding these routes. When you take the TTC routes in Markham, you’re technically on a YRT service that has been contracted to TTC, so you still have to pay the YRT fare + TTC fare if you cross Steeles

These rules are honestly stupid in my opinion. For the miway-ttc part of the contract, once you’re in toronto, you have to pay the ttc no matter what. This messes up airport rd commuters that go on the 52 and transfers at dixon and carlingview onto miway again. Yes i know there are both ttc and miway covering carlingview, but the miway 7 is so terrible with its schedule that the bus shouldn’t even be a reliability, and the 24/107 is a bit of a walk from airport rd. There should be something on the 52 that if you tapped on in mississauga, and then cross into toronto, only to transfer to a miway bus on dixon between the ttc fare zone and carlingview, then the ttc fare should be cancelled
 
love it or hate it you have to give it to YRT for actually completing a big transit project relatively on time and on budget.iirc heavy construction on yonge st only took a little over 2 years and the markham section was actually finished
a little early. Its hard to imagine this all came from nothing from a baby transit system only ~16/17 years ago

Hate the fact they started the project late
Hate the fact they gave themselves way too much time to complete bus lanes and move some utilities in order to look like they completed on time
Hate that the project its not actually done. Many areas still unfinished, few if any YRT shelters, Yonge & Garden sidewalk not complete, plantings not complete
Hate that traffic during a pandemic is high due to the poorly timed and long duration traffic lights. Cant wait (sarcasm) until traffic volumes go back to pre-pandemic levels
Love that the mess is mostly gone and VIVANext will be gone from this area
 
Is there a study for linking the 2 yonge brt segments together, or is it too soon or unnecessary (for now)
 
Most of the remaining 14.5 km is pretty low density so it's not a high priority. The Viva website says $713 million in funding would be required but I don't know how old that number is.

From the York Transportation Master Plan: "Construction of a dedicated rapidway from 19th Avenue/Gamble Road to south of Mulock Drive (excluding downtown Aurora) is not included in the Metrolinx Next Wave projects but will be required to support continued growth in York Region. The TMP Update recommends full dedicated rapid transit on this segment of Yonge Street by 2041."

The Viva website links to the Master Plan if you want to see it.
 
I don't see funding come for this any time soon. It's frankly not needed. The Newmarket portion was a colossal waste of money as the investment is nowhere near warranted for the low density and lack of intensification along that corridor.

The big question is what did the massive investment and overbuilding get York Region? Has transit service improved? (on the Viva routes yes, but the other routes not so much), has transit ridership grown or model split improved? Not as far as I can tell, even though the population has increased dramatically since the Viva program started about 15 years ago.

Viva/YRT should focus less on capital intensive projects and focus on improving the service that exists today. 15 min service on a BRT corridor is terrible.
 
I don't see funding come for this any time soon. It's frankly not needed. The Newmarket portion was a colossal waste of money as the investment is nowhere near warranted for the low density and lack of intensification along that corridor.

The big question is what did the massive investment and overbuilding get York Region? Has transit service improved? (on the Viva routes yes, but the other routes not so much), has transit ridership grown or model split improved? Not as far as I can tell, even though the population has increased dramatically since the Viva program started about 15 years ago.

Viva/YRT should focus less on capital intensive projects and focus on improving the service that exists today. 15 min service on a BRT corridor is terrible.
Even the mississauga transitway gets service of every 3-4 minutes (normally), which imo is way too overdeveloped. I think viva and the transitway should switch frequencies and it would be a win win situation
 
I don't see funding come for this any time soon. It's frankly not needed. The Newmarket portion was a colossal waste of money as the investment is nowhere near warranted for the low density and lack of intensification along that corridor.

The big question is what did the massive investment and overbuilding get York Region? Has transit service improved? (on the Viva routes yes, but the other routes not so much), has transit ridership grown or model split improved? Not as far as I can tell, even though the population has increased dramatically since the Viva program started about 15 years ago.

Viva/YRT should focus less on capital intensive projects and focus on improving the service that exists today. 15 min service on a BRT corridor is terrible.
Completely agree.

What was the Newmarket section even for? Politicians’ egos? Trying to persuade Newmarket politicians into supporting the plan? I’m actually serious, does anyone know why it got built, and why it was built so early (and why Yonge St south, the most important and useful section, was done last?)

Like, Viva Yellow is completely pointless as there’s literally 0 reason for an express service to exist on such a short and low frequency/demand route, leading to a parking lot in a highway interchange. How Davis Dr and Yonge St Newmarket were higher priority than Yonge St south, or Jane St, or even Leslie and Major Mack, I have no idea.

Also Viva service is even worse than 15 mins in most cases now. According to the YRT schedule finder, Purple has 17 min headways, Yellow has 18 min headways, Orange is 22 mins, and Purple is 34(!) mins on the split Enterprise Rd section. YRT is really forgetting the “bus” part of BRT with that kind of service. It’s no wonder that they have terrible ridership and farebox recovery when even their flagship services have barely acceptable to outright garbage frequencies.

At least the shelters are nice (ahem, ECLRT).
 
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