What if I told you that taking public transit can significantly improve your health? The Toronto Star recently reported on health professionals in the Greater Toronto Area [GTA] who agree that when it comes to land-use and transportation planning, more consideration must be given to encouraging residents to walk, cycle and use public transit.
How our communities are designed influences how we choose to get around, so making transit and active transportation integral to city planning can contribute to healthier, more active lifestyles. Instead of driving your car, choosing to bus, bike or walk to work are alternatives that mix pleasure and health benefits. Also, the article mentions that taking public transit can easily add 30 minutes of physical activity into your day because it can include walking to and from bus stops or subways.
One of the benefits of designing a major infrastructure project like vivaNext is the opportunity it provides to enhance our natural environment wherever possible. In addition to the new rapid transit system, the urban transformation that vivaNext is helping to shape will result in more walkable, people-friendly neighbourhoods that encourage pedestrians and cyclists to get out and enjoy their local environments. What’s great is that residents now have safe choices in how they want to travel.
The new communities in the urban centres will be mixed-use, meaning they’ll offer residential, employment and recreational options. With convenient access between these new urban neighbourhoods and an expanding rapid transit network, people can travel across York Region and into the rest of the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area [GTHA] without needing a car, making the centres an attractive option for people who want an urban lifestyle within York Region. These new urban hubs will offer walkable, bike-friendly and people-centred neighbourhoods that will be welcoming to people at all stages of life – from young professionals to empty nesters, making York Region a great place to live.
One reply on “building healthier communities”
I have no issue with BRT as planned, just the headache of Hwy 7 preparation for it has forced me onto 407. I have no issue with VMC extension beyond not having a dedicated parking area at the Terminus, which is clearly poorly thought, I brought that up in 2010 during Master Traffic Plan open house, before I ran for the Region. I have an issue with Metrolinx and YRT believing we exist only on Yonge and 7. Every single candidate for all positions vied wanted Vaughan extension to Major MacKenzie to meet the new hospital. I frankly believe Rutherford deserves a dedicated transit route, BRT or other, as I attended and early Env. Assessment for that clearly heading down BRT path with HDR consultants. We need grids in the GTA N-S and E-W and for York region Major MacKenzie and Rutherford, and perhaps Teston/Elgin Mills are prime corridors, as are Islington, Weston, Dufferin, Bathurst, Bayview and Warden. You need to consider rapid options to remove our gridlock, or it may take 2hrs to go from Jane to 400 on Rutherford. Some days it feels like an hour already. Yonge extension should have Centre/John as a stop instead of one north of there before Langstaff GO.
DaleA: Hi John,
Thank you for following the vivaNext project. To answer your questions:
>> At Vaughan Metropolitan Centre [VMC], the immediate area will accommodate commuters with an on-street passenger pick-up and drop-off, and transit connections to a new bus terminal and the vivaNext Highway 7 rapidway. South of VMC, Highway 407 Station and Pioneer Village Station will have large parking areas – see http://www.spadina.ttc.ca for more information.
>> We agree that transit requirements are changing and therefore rapid transit on Major Mackenzie is one of our next top priority projects awaiting funding. It is included in YRT\Viva’s 2015 Annual Service Plan Proposed Initiatives, on slide 10 as part of the Viva Network Expansion Plan. For now, additional Viva routes will be the first step in that direction.
>> The Yonge Subway remains our top priority project for the next wave of funding. Through the Yonge Subway Extension Environmental Assessment process, several stops were analyzed and considered based on densities and expected ridership numbers which therefore determined what stops were feasible. Langstaff GO was the preferred stop based on connectivity at this important inter-modal hub and the future developments proposed for that site.