TTC's prime routes get cannibalized by TTC? Hard to agree. While this does seem to be the case in Markham, for the vast majority of the region, YRT is the sole bus operator in many corridors. The level of service on Highway 7 is frankly embarrassing. Despite being no more developed than Highway 7, they somehow manage to run 7.5 minute headways on Viva Blue south of Bernard, and have done so for the past decade - while most of the developments on Yonge were only getting shovels into the ground. Perhaps this is a bit too anecdotal, but the lack of service really turns people away from these infrastructure projects. I know many people who live in the Promenade/New Westminster area along Viva Orange, and the only thing about Viva I hear there is how it was a giant waste of money on building useless glass shelters, and of course they think that way. They drive along Bathurst or Centre Street and they see these giant glass shelters with no busses around and nobody waiting in those stations, and you start asking yourself what the point even is, which also means you're less likely to use that service if it does start to get decent service, or if those residents actually get a really good reason to use them.
I didn't say ALL of their routes are cannibalized . I think the travel patterns are definitely affected, roughly from 7 to Steeles, though some of those routes more than others. Obviously up at Bernard there's a lot less of this (and even less up in Georgina) than when you're talking about routes in Thornhill where you have to really think about if it's worth paying $4+ to get to Finch or walk 15 minutes and just take the darned 53 or 60, costing YRT a fare. But the further south you go, the more density there is for YRT to harness
and the more TTC presence there is.
And I agree with what you're saying, which is why I said it's a Catch 22 right now.
You build this stuff and most definitely people say, "How come I see empty shelters?" or "Why do I see half-empty buses running on Bathurst?"
It's bad optics, for starters.
But it's also just growing pains and you really can't win.
Example: Go over to the Yonge subway thread where everyone complains that you can't open the subway line before Ontario Line because it'll be overcrowded.
So pick your poison: build transit now and hope to create new riders who won't be there the first few years, or wait until it's long overdue and then have so many riders you can't actually accommodate them, so people complain about either empty buses or full trains.
(Also, I could go to Davisville or Rosedale in the middle of the day and say they're a giant waste of money because hardly one is there; but that's not
really fair, is it? Anyway, I take your larger point.)
Viva's a great idea. I think it's mostly been well executed. But YRT has to do a lot more with the service to make it live up to its potential.
