taal
Senior Member
Does anyone have recent ridership figures over the last year or so for Viva in particular ?
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York Region Transit: Viva service thread
- Thread starter ShonTron
- Start date
Electrify
Senior Member
Meanwhile unconfirmed reports suggest we will be lucky if the new subway trains will be running by this summer. 18 months after they were supposed to be online.
reaperexpress
Senior Member
That's an awfully unfair comparison. YRT just ordered a few ordinary off-the-shelf buses. The TTC ordered over 200 heavily customized electric multiple units, which required a new assembly line, parts suppliers, design, testing etc. A lot more room for error.
If we're making unfair comparisons, might as well go all the way and compare buying subway trains to buying a Toyota Corolla.
doady
Senior Member
It is smart when the union involved is ATU Local 113. Seriously, is there another transit union that strikes as much as this one? Mississauga and Brampton each have single operations as well, but when was the last time they when on strike? Even the Mississauga and Brampton unions have criticized ATU Local 113. Maybe it would actually be a benefit for York Region to merge all transit operations, if it means that no more of the transit workers are part of ATU Local 113.
reaperexpress
Senior Member
http://www.yorkregiontransit.com/schedules/service-changes.asp:
I assume this is to reroute Viva Orange to the York University Busway. Here's my conspiracy theory as to why it was delayed so long: YRT didn't want to suffer the humiliation of having the first ever Viva Rapidway be a road built by the TTC. Now that the Enterprise Rapidway is pretty much done and has taken the title of "first rapidway", they can reroute Viva Orange.
And, wow, they really have a lot of faith in the honesty of riders. Is anyone actually going to buy a bus ticket after having already disembarked at their destination?
Also, Viva seems to have abandoned the "15 minute guarantee", because here are some of the service changes for Viva Purple:
There are a bunch of new rush hour Viva trips in the service changes, presumably due to the arrival of the NovaBuses. Interestingly, the new short-turn buses running between RHC and Finch are listed under Viva Pink. I would have thought that they should be called Viva Blue because that's the route people are more familiar with.
I assume this is to reroute Viva Orange to the York University Busway. Here's my conspiracy theory as to why it was delayed so long: YRT didn't want to suffer the humiliation of having the first ever Viva Rapidway be a road built by the TTC. Now that the Enterprise Rapidway is pretty much done and has taken the title of "first rapidway", they can reroute Viva Orange.
And, wow, they really have a lot of faith in the honesty of riders. Is anyone actually going to buy a bus ticket after having already disembarked at their destination?
Also, Viva seems to have abandoned the "15 minute guarantee", because here are some of the service changes for Viva Purple:
There are a bunch of new rush hour Viva trips in the service changes, presumably due to the arrival of the NovaBuses. Interestingly, the new short-turn buses running between RHC and Finch are listed under Viva Pink. I would have thought that they should be called Viva Blue because that's the route people are more familiar with.
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doady
Senior Member
Wow, frequencies for Purple and Pink are going down by 1-2 minutes across the board. And there's also substantial service cuts on regular routes as well (even after ignoring the numerous frequency reductions to accommodate increased travel times):
1 Highway 7 - morning rush - 20 min -> 24 min
2 Milliken - midday - 30 min -> 39 min
7 Martin Grove - afternoon rush - 20 min -> 25 min
8 Kennedy - rush hour - 13 min -> 19/20 min
8 Kennedy - midday - 22 min -> 33 min
90/B Leslie - rush hour - 10 min -> 14/16 min
91/A Bayview - rush hour - 9 min -> 11 min
98 Yonge - rush hour - 22 min -> 28/30 min
98 Yonge - off-peak - 22 min -> 39 min
99 Yonge - early morning - 22 min -> 28 min
99 Yonge - rush hour - 11 min -> 17 min
99 Yonge - midday - 22 min -> 25 min
98/99 Yonge - weekday - 22 min -> 29 min
98/99 Yonge - Sunday - 30 min -> 39 min
A whole bunch of trips canceled outright as well. That really sucks for York transit users.
Really unexpected, after a year of record ridership in 2010. Has there been explanation for this?
1 Highway 7 - morning rush - 20 min -> 24 min
2 Milliken - midday - 30 min -> 39 min
7 Martin Grove - afternoon rush - 20 min -> 25 min
8 Kennedy - rush hour - 13 min -> 19/20 min
8 Kennedy - midday - 22 min -> 33 min
90/B Leslie - rush hour - 10 min -> 14/16 min
91/A Bayview - rush hour - 9 min -> 11 min
98 Yonge - rush hour - 22 min -> 28/30 min
98 Yonge - off-peak - 22 min -> 39 min
99 Yonge - early morning - 22 min -> 28 min
99 Yonge - rush hour - 11 min -> 17 min
99 Yonge - midday - 22 min -> 25 min
98/99 Yonge - weekday - 22 min -> 29 min
98/99 Yonge - Sunday - 30 min -> 39 min
A whole bunch of trips canceled outright as well. That really sucks for York transit users.
Really unexpected, after a year of record ridership in 2010. Has there been explanation for this?
just_chillin
New Member
It's not as easy as a quick click, but here's what you gotta do:
goto http://york.ca/
on the left hand side click the Regional Government Link
Then select Agenda's, Minutes & Reports
Scroll down to committee reports, select the year (depending on which month you want, the previous year could be in the next year [eg: Dec 2010 stats can be found in 2011 committee reports link])
Scroll down to the "Transportation Services Committee" and search through those (usually at the bottom of that link you will find the link the ridership stats. For example if you go here: http://www.york.ca/Regional+Government/Agendas+Minutes+and+Reports/_2011/TSC+rpt+1.htm , scroll down to the very bottom and you will see the link for November 2010 ridership stats. It will show for all YRT routes including TTC in York Region and Viva.
Alternatively you could technically do a "search" direct on the york.ca main page, but I find it doesn't always work well..
drum118
Superstar
Wow, frequencies for Purple and Pink are going down by 1-2 minutes across the board. And there's also substantial service cuts on regular routes as well (even after ignoring the numerous frequency reductions to accommodate increased travel times):
1 Highway 7 - morning rush - 20 min -> 24 min
2 Milliken - midday - 30 min -> 39 min
7 Martin Grove - afternoon rush - 20 min -> 25 min
8 Kennedy - rush hour - 13 min -> 19/20 min
8 Kennedy - midday - 22 min -> 33 min
90/B Leslie - rush hour - 10 min -> 14/16 min
91/A Bayview - rush hour - 9 min -> 11 min
98 Yonge - rush hour - 22 min -> 28/30 min
98 Yonge - off-peak - 22 min -> 39 min
99 Yonge - early morning - 22 min -> 28 min
99 Yonge - rush hour - 11 min -> 17 min
99 Yonge - midday - 22 min -> 25 min
98/99 Yonge - weekday - 22 min -> 29 min
98/99 Yonge - Sunday - 30 min -> 39 min
A whole bunch of trips canceled outright as well. That really sucks for York transit users.
Really unexpected, after a year of record ridership in 2010. Has there been explanation for this?
From my Experience riding the Pink, it should be cancel.
The max I have seen on this bus has been 20 with most of them off by Woodbine. This leaves the odd rider or 2 for rest of the trip.
doady
Senior Member
Canceling entire routes like Viva Pink outright might make average person wonder about the logic behind spending hundreds of millions of dollars on a transitway with huge, fancy bus shelters then cutting so much service, including service that will use said transitway, only a few months before said transitway is open to the public.
I guess frequency reductions and canceling trips would only be noticed by the current riders who rely on them, and so the average person would not notice how dumb this is. And nobody has noticed or cared that regular YRT, non-Viva riders have gotten the shaft in favour of Viva since 2005, and I guess the powers that be figure that most people will continue not to notice or care about further neglect/cuts to regular YRT routes, and they're probably right.
Justin10000
Banned
I used Viva Pink for 3 years from Finch to Allstate Parkway, and I have experienced nearly full buses on every ride. What time do you use the bus at?
CDL.TO
Moderator
The London Underground has had five strikes since September of last year.
taal
Senior Member
I am the viva pink expert so to speak
2 times every day (typically early morning rush / normal evening rush, 4/5 days a week for the last 4 years - my observations:
Mornings:
It's well used - never standing room only (although that does happen when they fall behind schedule) but generally around Hi-way 7 - Yonge it's 3/4 full most of the time.
Now, east of Warden (Town Center) it's just about empty the majority of the time - this is where I get off and there's generally 3 or 4 people left.
Evening rush:
It seems to be less used in general throughout the evening rush at any time (i.e. 4:30 -> 6ish). Not empty, but I've noticed this even about the purple, for whatever reason they don't get quite as busy in afternoon. I'm guessing people leave on a more staggered schedule - so much so that eliminating some is probably called for; Though this nothing to encourage future ridhership.
Personally, I find it extremely thinking, from a logistics point of view, however, I think I'd rather them focus on improving purple / blue frequencies and scrap this - even though this would be a paid for me.
Don't forget though there's a huge amount of new office space due for Hi-way / 404 area - likely 1 million square feet spread through 4/5 developments. All of this should increase ridership.
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reaperexpress
Senior Member
Having extra capacity on Viva will come in handy tomorrow if tomorrow if there's a strike. Since my YRT route is on the strike list, I will be taking Viva instead, and I can't be the only one.
APTA-2048
Senior Member
CP24 has just annouced a strike has been averted as a tentative deal has been reached between the union and the contractor.
nfitz
Superstar
Which is less than 5 months ...