Archive for the ‘General’ Category
Tuesday, November 24th, 2009
Our goal is to ensure that you can quickly and easily find answers to all your vivaNext questions on our comprehensive and constantly updated website. However, we also recognize that there may be times when you need to speak directly to someone about a specific related matter.
That’s why we have a vivaNext Community Liaison, Andrea Witty. Whether you’re a property owner, business operator, tenant, or any other community member directly affected by vivaNext construction, Andrea is readily available to assist you with any question regarding rapidway planning and construction.
Here’s how to reach her:
Andrea Witty
Community Liaison
Telephone: 905-886-6767 Ext. 1022
1-877-464-9675
Cellphone: 416-554-1890
Email: andrea.witty@york.ca
Throughout vivaNext construction, you will also find Andrea out in the community providing York Region residents and businesses with ongoing project information.
If you met Andrea, what would you ask her?
Tags: Andrea Witty, BRT, Bus Rapid Transit, business operator, Community Liaison, connections, Highway 7, Markham, Newmarket, property owner, Rapidway, tenant, Vaughan, viva, vivaNext, website, York Region
Posted in General, Rapidways | No Comments »
Friday, September 18th, 2009
Passengers wait to board Viva. A new study shows that ridership will greatly increase in the coming decades.
Transit ridership is expected to nearly double in Canada over the next 30 years as the population rises to 42 million, with most of those people living in urban centres.
This is according to a report released recently by the Canadian Urban Transit Association, which represents public transit agencies across the country.
The report, titled Vision 2040, suggests all levels of government must work together to put transit at the centre of community planning and design. This will help create communities that reduce dependency on cars.
“Today, national transit ridership and investment are both at all-time highs,” states the report. “Transit is widely recognized as an important part of the solution to national challenges including economic prosperity, climate change, public health, safety and security.”
When factoring population growth, ridership will increase from 1.76 billion trips in 2007 to 3.28 billion trips in 2040.
To deal with this increase, CUTA says large cities and major metropolitan areas such as York Region and Toronto, must focus on integrating transit services and expanding rapid transit.
It sounds like vivaNext is on the right track with subway extensions that will be the backbone of a seamless transit system. The subway extensions and dedicated lanes will improve travel times throughout the Viva network and help to shape successful urban revitalization.
Read the final report.
Watch the video and see how transit will play a role in the future: Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on “Transit Vision 2040 Video”.
What do you think of this vision? What do you see as the role of transit in the future?
Tags: BRT, Canadian Urban Transit Association, city planning, rapid transit, Rapidway, ridership, subway extension, Toronto, transit-only lanes, Urban Planning, Vision 2040, viva, vivaNext, York Region
Posted in General, Studies, Urban Planning | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, May 12th, 2009
Tough new drinking and driving laws recently went into effect giving people an even greater reason to take public transit.
The tougher penalties mean increasing fines and suspensions for anyone driving under the influence.
Why risk lives when there’s a simple, easy and safe alternative – public transit. Keeping people from driving after they have been drinking alcohol is critical to keeping our roads safe.
As OPP Sgt. Dave Woodford has said many times, most accidents are not accidents, they are collisions and completely preventable.
Hopefully this new law will make people realize that drinking and driving is not worth it – and illegal!
Tags: Bus Rapid Transit, connections, McGuinty, Ontario, rapid transit, Rapidway, Toronto, transit, viva, vivaNext, York Region
Posted in General | No Comments »
Thursday, April 23rd, 2009
“Cool”, “sweet” and “we love Viva “ – those were the responses to our vivaNext plan for bus rapidways and subway extensions.
Students from Cardinal Carter Catholic High School show us their "V" for viva.
Today’s guest bloggers are Andrea Witty, Community Liaison Specialist, and Kathryn Webber, Project & Public Relations Coordinator, who spent Earth Day at Cardinal Carter High School in Aurora talking to the students about the new rapidways that are coming to York Region.
We shared time-lapse animations that showed what Vaughan, Newmarket and Markham will look like in 5-20 years when the rapidways and subway extension projects are built. Being able to actually show the end result of our plan makes talking about it way easier. They loved the images and the peak into the future.
Students were excited about the long range plans to increase connections and make it easier to travel across the region for shopping and work, getting to university and to get to Toronto.
While the vivaNext plan will save people time and prevent stress from being in gridlock, the plan is a part of a long-term sustainable solution to save something much more important than time – our planet.
What did you do for earth day?
Tags: Aurora, BRT, Bus Rapid Transit, Cardinal Carter Catholic High School, city planning, connections, Earth Day, environmentally friendly, Markham, Newmarket, Rapidway, subway extensions, sustainable development, Toronto, transit, transit-only lanes, Urban Planning, Vaughan, viva, vivaNext, York Region
Posted in General, Going Green, Rapidways | No Comments »
Tuesday, April 21st, 2009
York Region operates York Region Transit (YRT) as a local transit service and Viva, which is a rapid transit service. Both services are operated by YRT and work together as one system to provide you with seamless connections to the people you want to see and the places you want to go across all nine municipalities.
As strange as it may seem, the York Region Rapid Transit Corporation is separate from YRT and Viva, and does not operate the service. The York Region Rapid Transit Corporation is responsible for developing the rapid transit plan (vivaNext).
That is us. We are responsible for designing, developing and building the future rapid transit systems in York Region. Through a process of public consultations, we gather input from the community to ensure that the needs of local business, residents and other groups are being met and their concerns are addressed. These systems will allow you to move between regions and within York Region faster than ever before. That is thanks to subway extensions and centre transit-only lanes, also knows as rapidways, where transit vehicles will move without getting caught in traffic.
Once the vivaNext projects are complete, the operations role is transferred to another transit agency. For you, it means a seamless and well-connected service.
Tags: BRT, Bus Rapid Transit, city planning, connections, mixed-use development, Newmarket, rapid transit, Rapidway, subway, subway extension, Toronto, transit, transit-only lanes, Urban Planning, Vaughan, viva, vivaNext, York Region
Posted in General | No Comments »
Friday, April 17th, 2009
- The final frame of the time-lapse animation in Markham
I’ll save you the suspense and just say that their eyes lit up and all the Mayors wanted to know when they would get a copy of the final images and time-lapse videos. In fact, one of the reporters there requested electronic copies of the three images shown. Guess we’ll see that in print this weekend.
For us, they have been developing time-lapse animations of how Markham, Vaughan and Newmarket will change over the next 5-10 years as communities are built around transit.
In only a few seconds, the time-lapse animation shows how these different areas will change as subways and rapidways come to York Region. They are still works in progress and will look even better when completed in a few weeks. So be sure to check back on our website to see the videos, and I’ll let you know here when they’re done.
I like going to meetings like this because it gives us a chance to talk with elected officials, members of the public and the media about how our progress is going and to hear their thoughts.
Tags: city planning, connections, Markham, mixed-use development, Newmarket, Ontario, rapid transit, Rapidway, subway, time-lapse, Toronto, transit, transit-only lanes, Urban Planning, Vaughan, viva, vivaNext, York Region
Posted in General | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, February 10th, 2009
Getting from A to B in style is what you’ve come to expect from us. But more is on the way – we’ve been busy here at Viva central, creating the next generation of rapid transit. We’re calling it vivaNext.
It’s all about connections. Connecting you to the people you want to see and places you need to be. VivaNext will give you more transit options and help create attractive boulevards along the Viva routes.
Soon you’ll be able to get around faster, in style and with a smile. VivaNext will extend the Spadina and Yonge subway lines north, and build dedicated lanes for Viva on Highway 7, Yonge Street and Davis Drive.
So, what do you have to say about vivaNext? Share your thoughts here by posting a comment below.
Tags: connections, viva, vivaNext
Posted in Announcements, General, vivaNext.com | 12 Comments »