VIVA + York Region Transit

[Sandpit]

Direct link to YRT/VIVA service changes page:

Service Changes and Updates

York Region Transit (YRT) often adjust and improve our services to better connect you to the places you want to go. Check back here regularly for upcoming route and schedule changes.

www.yrt.ca

The residual VIVA blue is moving towards better service:

View attachment 499852

The improvements to Viva Blue no longer appear on the page.

 

[Sandpit]

The improvements to Viva Blue no longer appear on the page.

Yeah it's official

Frequency and some schedule changes previously planned for Viva blue, purple/purple A and orange in September 2023 are being postponed until further notice.

There will be no changes for Viva blue, purple/purple A and orange at this time, with the exception of some schedule changes for Viva blue on Sundays/holidays.

We apologize for any confusion this may have caused.

For further assistance, please call the YRT Contact Centre at 1-866-668-3978 or Chat Live with us.

A bit strange to suddenly cancel a schedule change like that, unless it's because Viva buses are being sent to Durham Region.

 

[ARG1]

Yeah it's official



A bit strange to suddenly cancel a schedule change like that, unless it's because Viva buses are being sent to Durham Region.

What most likely happened is they announced the changes likely from an increased budget, the contractor came back to them and said "hey wait a minute, we do not have manpower to actually follow through with this, we need to hire more drivers before that can happen", and now they're pulling back those changes until those drivers are found.

At least this is one possibility.

 

[Sandpit]

What most likely happened is they announced the changes likely from an increased budget, the contractor came back to them and said "hey wait a minute, we do not have manpower to actually follow through with this, we need to hire more drivers before that can happen", and now they're pulling back those changes until those drivers are found.

At least this is one possibility.

You would think they’d talk to the contractor before announcing the service changes

 

[smallspy]

What most likely happened is they announced the changes likely from an increased budget, the contractor came back to them and said "hey wait a minute, we do not have manpower to actually follow through with this, we need to hire more drivers before that can happen", and now they're pulling back those changes until those drivers are found.

At least this is one possibility.

This is not at all what happened.

It was very quickly realized once they started going through the process of the crews bidding on their new jobs that the crewing schedules were very wrong. There was simply not enough time to re-write the schedules to make them correct, so they've gone back to the current ones for the time being.

This is also why the issue only affects the VIVA routes. Each of the divisions is crewed and scheduled individually, so while the same contractor is also handling the northern portion of the regular transit network, their crewing schedules were created correctly.

Dan

 

[Sandpit]

This is not at all what happened.

It was very quickly realized once they started going through the process of the crews bidding on their new jobs that the crewing schedules were very wrong. There was simply not enough time to re-write the schedules to make them correct, so they've gone back to the current ones for the time being.

This is also why the issue only affects the VIVA routes. Each of the divisions is crewed and scheduled individually, so while the same contractor is also handling the northern portion of the regular transit network, their crewing schedules were created correctly.

Dan

See I would have assumed that this stuff happens before the changes are announced, so if the crewing schedules are very wrong and they can’t fix it in time, they simply don’t announce anything and the public is none the wiser.

 

[smallspy]

See I would have assumed that this stuff happens before the changes are announced, so if the crewing schedules are very wrong and they can’t fix it in time, they simply don’t announce anything and the public is none the wiser.

That depends on the organization.

The TTC plans this stuff out and the crews bid on their new jobs well in advance of any scheduled service adjustments. There have been times when there were mistakes in the schedules as they were written, but there was enough time to fix them and still make them available to the crews in advance of the change of board.

As we see here, YRT does it much closer to the date.

Dan

 

[Transportfan]

Yes, of course this is true. But the obvious paradox here is that Keele-Bayview is basically the centre of York Region and so, all things being equal, it should not be where demand drops off. It would be like if Line 2 had low ridership between Broadview and Spadina. And yet Highway 7 conspires against this; it's tricky.

Ironically, the corridor through there was the first non-historic area to see mass urbanization (as it likely would be expected to due to its central location). but that is what led to the situation we see today, as there was nowhere else to run the later Parkway Belt through except along Hwy. 7 as development encroached from the north and south. Not to mention 7 switched concessions along Bathurst, and the roads continuing beyond on both sides of the "jump" were discontinuous or choke points.

 

[TJ O'Pootertoot]

Ironically, the corridor through there was the first non-historic area to see mass urbanization (as it likely would be expected to due to its central location). but that is what led to the situation we see today, as there was nowhere else to run the later Parkway Belt through except along Hwy. 7 as development encroached from the north and south. Not to mention 7 switched concessions along Bathurst, and the roads continuing beyond on both sides of the "jump" were discontinuous or choke points.

And you had the Langstaff Jail Farm at Yonge for a a long time and then you had a subwya annouced and put on hold for 10 years...

It's a really interesting confluecnce of events that have lead to this corridor, and especially the area right around Yonge, - the most central and natural place to intenensify - being virtually sterilized for a long time.

 

[yrt+viva=1system]

Was just on a YRT bus that has an automated male voice announcing the next stops. Looks like the Region is updating the system.

 

[futurebound]

Was just on a YRT bus that has an automated male voice announcing the next stops. Looks like the Region is updating the system.

Confirmed by an ex-YRT employee on Twitter

https://twitter.com/x/status/1714043857246065040

 

[anb]

It looks like they really do anything except for the one thing that is most necessary, which is increasing overall service...

 

[chrisw]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1725303070907564403

 

[APTA-2048]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1725303070907564403

Hopefully Vancouver doesn’t plan to run a bus every 23 minutes.

 

[chrisw]

More details in the actual 2024 York Region budget but here's some quotes from the news.

The budget was improved from outlooks thanks to an unexpected uptick in transit usage. Treasurer Laura Mirabella said, allowing for measures like increased police resources. The region now projects transit ridership to reach pre-pandemic levels next year, two years earlier than projections.

York Region plans 3.75% tax rate increase

Proposed increase could cost average Newmarket homeowner $88 more next year

www.newmarkettoday.ca