York Region Transit: Viva service thread

[doady]

What's the point of installing a high-end bus stop/pad/shelter there where there is already huge one on the far end of the intersection? Is it really necessary to separate VIVA and route 1 like that, c'mon. YRT just wasting money.

 

[1overcosc]

Is there really a point to having route 1 at all? VIVA stops frequently enough that there is no need for expensive paralleling service. Get rid of it.

 

[doady]

16 minutes isn't really "frequently enough". And anyways route 1 actually has a different routing than Viva.

 

[xtremesniper]

Is there really a point to having route 1 at all? VIVA stops frequently enough that there is no need for expensive paralleling service. Get rid of it.

It's not exactly parallel and it makes a ton more stops (TTC style) than Viva does. Where Viva blasts through without stopping (like between Bayview and Yonge), YRT will actually stop.

And (at least for now) at Warden where Viva drops off from 7 to Enterprise, YRT continues along to serve that area where no other transit currently exists until Kennedy.

 

[BMO]

it would have been super cool if the VIVA stops were built in such a way that Route 1 buses could arrive in the left most lane and let passengers off on the left side directly onto the adjacent VIVA platform to provide an amazing transfer opportunity between VIVA and local routes.

 

[Platform 27]

it would have been super cool if the VIVA stops were built in such a way that Route 1 buses could arrive in the left most lane and let passengers off on the left side directly onto the adjacent VIVA platform to provide an amazing transfer opportunity between VIVA and local routes.

I don't know if the drivers of these YRT buses would appreciate passengers climbing over their laps and then shimmying out the driver's side window to accomplish the movement you describe.

 

[BMO]

I don't know if the drivers of these YRT buses would appreciate passengers climbing over their laps and then shimmying out the driver's side window to accomplish the movement you describe.

while I acknowledge your comment is tongue in cheek. Buses with doors on both sides are commonplace in many cities around the world. It would have obviously been a large capital cost to implement and is why I said it would'e been cool.

 

[ShonTron]

it would have been super cool if the VIVA stops were built in such a way that Route 1 buses could arrive in the left most lane and let passengers off on the left side directly onto the adjacent VIVA platform to provide an amazing transfer opportunity between VIVA and local routes.

What cheeses me is that it's difficult to quickly get between the express Viva stop (far side, in median) to the local YRT stop (near side). It requires crossing two signalized crosswalks. One might just want to get the first bus that comes, especially off peak (when frequencies are lower) or for a short distance. The local bus stops should have been far-side at least.

 

[Electrify]

What cheeses me is that it's difficult to quickly get between the express Viva stop (far side, in median) to the local YRT stop (near side). It requires crossing two signalized crosswalks. One might just want to get the first bus that comes, especially off peak (when frequencies are lower) or for a short distance. The local bus stops should have been far-side at least.

I wonder if these new displays also show Viva arrival times, just so a passenger knows which bus to take. I know at some NYC stations where local and express trains stop at different platforms, there are digital signs which tell which train is to arrive first.

 

[Electrify]

Over the last few months, I've been on the Viva Purple in the east a couple of times. Some thoughts.

1. The busway at Enterprise may be the biggest waste of tax dollars I have ever seen, and this is from a spend happy lefty! Enterprise is hardly a congested street that the bus needs its own lane, let alone its own road. Factor in the traffic signalling which stops Viva buses even though Enterprise through traffic is allowed to proceed, and the region has spent millions to make the bus slower!

2. Through Beaver Creek and Commerce Valley, they really need to tighten up the schedule. It feels as if the bus is going about 50 and loosing its competitive edge that these lanes provide. In fact going west at around East Beaver Creek and Leslie area, we were tied with the 77. By the time we left the busway, the 77 was almost at Richmond Hill Centre!

 

[innsertnamehere]

The enterprise buslane is more so for the future, once downtown Markham starts to get big and generate traffic it will seem more justified.

 

[Electrify]

Then they should have used it for the future. In the meantime keep it on the main streets.

 

[xtremesniper]

Then they should have used it for the future. In the meantime keep it on the main streets.

They used it as an experimental trial run. They then took the lessons they learned from there (from construction issues to the handling of weather to the terrible idea of cobblestone roads) and applied what they learned to the rest of the stations as they started building them.

I agree that it's a bit of a waste at the moment, but they basically treated it as a beta station and ended up using it anyway so as to not waste it. It'll make more sense in a few years but by then we'll hopefully see the new routing that stays on Highway 7 across to Kennedy instead of going down to Enterprise (in addition to the Enterprise routing, not to replace it).

 

[innsertnamehere]

The next portion of the enterprise brt won't be opening until 2019, probably a more justified opening date.

 

[TJ O'Pootertoot]

They used it as an experimental trial run. They then took the lessons they learned from there (from construction issues to the handling of weather to the terrible idea of cobblestone roads) and applied what they learned to the rest of the stations as they started building them.

I agree that it's a bit of a waste at the moment, but they basically treated it as a beta station and ended up using it anyway so as to not waste it. It'll make more sense in a few years but by then we'll hopefully see the new routing that stays on Highway 7 across to Kennedy instead of going down to Enterprise (in addition to the Enterprise routing, not to replace it).

This, exactly.

It was a way for them to test out an actual rapidway + station before building the real ones and they learned concrete things in the process. Obviously it seems pointless now but the idea of building in a "complete street" ahead of the development will yield fruit in the future. It really ain't nothing to get in a huff about.