There is still a lot of room to improve YRT service though. If YRT could run buses every 15 minutes most of the day on main routes and get rid of the extra fare for taking TTC buses across Steeles that would be a big improvement. York Region traffic can be really bad (particularly along Highway 7 and some of the employment areas nearby) so I think that even higher income people would use it if only the service on routes other than Yonge and Highway 7 were not so infrequent. Service to rural areas does not matter, these areas will always have little or no transit service due to their low population density, but if YRT would improve service frequencies on a dozen or so of its busiest routes (4, 16, 20, 85 and 90 are some of the more obvious candidates), this would put frequent bus service within 1km of most of York Region's urban population.
A lot of the money is currently going towards service expenditures for VIVA, trying to ramp up service and demand for the Rapidway routes. Based on my time there, I gathered that we'll start to see improved service on connecting routes like the 4, 16, 20, 85 and 90, but for now the emphasis is on the main VIVA network that will provide the backbone for the system going forward. It's often easy to forget that, although the province is paying the capital expenditures for the Viva Rapidways, YRT is assuming the servicing of the route, which includes, security, IT (for the Next bus information and ITS systems), Maintenance, cleaning and the drivers for the buses. The Viva routes alone drain a lot of resources simply through the nature of their being a much larger piece of infrastructure to run (think of it as a subway for York Region). Adding to this, YRT is planning to add two more routes to either replace the 90, 4 and 20 by changing VIVA green to go from Fairview subway station up Don Mills to Major Mac and acroos to York Central Hospital. Also they are planning a VIVA Silver that will go from the Steeles West subway station up Jane St, along Major Mac to Richmond Hill GO Station (providing an overlap between the Green and Silver along Major Mac between Newkirk Rd and York Central Hospital). So that improved service is coming, it's jsut going to take a bit longer.
Thanks for that BMO.
I get the sense that council has been pretty supportive of transit, as much as any suburban municipality has, but there are some geographical and demographic constraints that make it awful challenging to get where they want to go. Hopefully intensification and the completion of a real network will help, but I guess it will take a while.
I think Andrewpmk makes a couple of good points but ditching the across-Steeles fare isn't simply YRT's call and I expect it will be eliminated (or at least adjusted) whenever they introduce whatever new fare system comes to the region in the next few years. The rural routes do matter because, as you point out, they will always have little or no transit service and yet YRT must serve them anyway. It's a draw on the system and I suspect that if YRT operated entirely south of the Oak Ridges Moraine and was better integrated with TTC, it would be much easier to hit that recovery ratio. It's almost 2 different systems...
With regards to the double fare, everyone at YRT acknowledges the issue, I am not the most knowledgeable about the relationship that YRT has with the TTC with regards to TTC routes extending into York Region, but I know that TTC buses are essentially, for all intents and purposes, YRT buses once they cross Steeles. Don't quote me on this, but I believe they have these routes simply because TTC can probably provide the service for cheaper than a third party contractor. Many people might not know this, but YRT does not drive any of their buses, all routes are contracted out to either Miller, TOK or Veolia. In the case of the routes like Dufferin, Weston, etc it coul just happen to be that the TTC was the best deal in terms of a contractor to serve those routes since they already have the buses, and it provides an increased level of convenience to riders if they happen to want to continue South towards Toronto at least they don't have to transfer to a different bus (even though they have to pay a double fare). Adding to this, YRT has substantially less control of the planning of TTC routes that extend into York Region, it must be OK'd by the TTC before being implemented because they can often affect scheduling and frequencies south of Steeles if the route is too long, or if there are issues.
I think the whole fare integration is a non-starter unless the Province steps in. Even the subways going north of Steeles will require users to pay a double fare unless something gets agreed upon before opening day. The TTC is very strict about retaining it's own revenue and does not like to share with YRT (for good reason TBH). If there was fare integration you'd see YRT and TTC lose money considering there's a potential loss of $3-4 per customer that transfers if you completely get rid of that double fare. I think out of all the issues that YRT faces, the fare integration issue is the one that they have the least control over and are less equipped to change.
