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Vaughan Centre Bus Terminal

YRT/Viva likes to pretend that Zum doesn't really exist. The signs to the 501 in the subway stations isn't very good either.
The TTC too doesn't show the Zum connection at York University Station, even though it has more weekday service than at VMC.

In my opinion, I find that the signage at VMC is pretty sufficient in advertising ZUM services. This particular sign was only an exception and located in such a way that no one is really going to look at it. All the other signs leading to the VIVA station also includes ZUM. I figure the TTC, ZUM and York University aren't really interested in having passengers transfer at York as the location of the stop seems to intentionally encourage only York students to use it (you have to cross 4 intersections to transfer here and none of the signage at York University station advertises the service either). At the moment, 501A/C can barely handle the demand created by university students so it won't be in anyone's interest to start encouraging riders to transfer at the university unless Brampton has spare buses to beef up service or they start letting passengers sit on the roof of the buses. You also have to remember that York is very keen to kick bus service off of its campus as soon as fare integration is in place (they probably will let the 41 stay on campus to serve the outskirts of the campus).
 
Just a few more pictures to add onto @yrt+viva=1system collection. The walk is pretty lengthy if you're trying to transfer between local YRT routes and VIVA/ZUM and you have to go through quite a lot of doors so it will be even longer if you're using a wheelchair. The stairs connecting the terminal to the tunnel is pretty narrow but that probably won't matter once the escalator goes into service (at YRT speed, my guess is 6 months). A bit of OCD of mines, but ZUM is missing from the signage pasted next to the escalators as seen in the 3rd photo. The traffic situation at New Park Place seems to have been greatly improved. The bus terminal has opened up another section of PPUDO next to its east canopy which was well used when I was there and there is no longer a swarm of pedestrians impeding traffic trying to get in and out of New Park Place. At the moment, you can still smell a bit of paint walking through the terminal.
**Snip**


This is my biggest complaint about the who VMC transit strategy. It's as if YRT never imagined that someone would want to transfer from one of their local routes on to a VIVA route and so stuck the subway station right in the middle of two bus stations.
 
YRT/Viva likes to pretend that Zum doesn't really exist. The signs to the 501 in the subway stations isn't very good either.
The TTC too doesn't show the Zum connection at York University Station, even though it has more weekday service than at VMC.

Maybe because Zum service in Vaughan is supposed to be temporary. The plan is to extend Viva Orange to Highway 50 and build a terminal there, so I assume Zum will be cut back to Highway 50 at that point and will no longer cut into Viva Orange's ridership.
 
This is my biggest complaint about the who VMC transit strategy. It's as if YRT never imagined that someone would want to transfer from one of their local routes on to a VIVA route and so stuck the subway station right in the middle of two bus stations.
Well the original plan was to have the bus terminal on the east side of Millway Ave directly across from the main entrance, connecting to where the current secondary exit is I assume. But due to development reasons (prime land next to Highway 7 and all?), it was moved north.
Maybe because Zum service in Vaughan is supposed to be temporary. The plan is to extend Viva Orange to Highway 50 and build a terminal there, so I assume Zum will be cut back to Highway 50 at that point and will no longer cut into Viva Orange's ridership.
I definitely support ZUM 501 no longer serving York Region, as it would encourage YRT to increase service on Viva Orange and remove the overlapping services.
 
Well the original plan was to have the bus terminal on the east side of Millway Ave directly across from the main entrance, connecting to where the current secondary exit is I assume. But due to development reasons (prime land next to Highway 7 and all?), it was moved north.

I thought the original plan was to have no bus terminal at all and have buses connect at 407 station.
 
The escalators at the VMC terminal went into service as of Wednesday afternoon. Also they updated the weird signage at the bottom of the escalators to a design that conforms to the rest of the signage in the station. Also, signs directing passengers to the 77 and ZUM have appeared in the terminal. However, the wording on the signs along with their placement makes them incredibly confusing for any newcomers to the system. The sign for the 77 states that the bus stops at the curbside but, given that its in the terminal which is quite far from Highway 7, I would probably be led to believe that they mean on Portage Parkway. This is all really nit-picky (especially since this is an issue for one local bus route), but I believe that a good signage system is one where a literate person can navigate without consulting their phone or an employee.

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