Posts Tagged ‘Toronto’
Tuesday, July 6th, 2010
On Thursday, July 8, and Tuesday, July 13, 2010, you are invited to view the final designs of two stations along the Spadina Subway extension: Sheppard West Station and Highway 407 Station.
The Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension project will extend 8.6 kilometres north from Toronto’s Downsview Station to the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre at Highway 7. The project will better connect people to their destinations of choice, and will help Vaughan fulfill its vision for future growth and development.
We encourage you to attend these two public open houses and share the excitement as rapid transit plans move forward in York Region.
Sheppard West Station Public Open House
Date: Thursday, July 8, 2010
Time: 4 - 7:30pm
Location: TTC Downsview Station - Bus Terminal Platform
At the intersection of Allen Road and Sheppard Avenue West
Access to Bus Terminal Platform through “Passenger Pick up and Drop off”
Highway 407 Station Public Open House
Date: Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Time: 6:30 - 8:30pm
Location: The Hilton Garden Inn - Toscana Centre
3201 Highway 7, Vaughan
Take Transit: From Downsview Station take Viva Orange 077/077A or Viva Orange 107 to arrive at the doorstep of the Hilton Garden Inn, at the intersection of Highway 7 and Edgeley/Interchange Way.
Tags: connections, Highway 407 Station, public open house, Sheppard West Station, Spadina extension, subway, subway extension, Toronto, Vaughan, Vaughan Metropolitan Centre, York Region
Posted in Announcements, Stations, Subways | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 31st, 2010
For those of us living in York Region and in the Greater Toronto Area, growth is one of those things that we cannot escape. In fact, the entire Province of Ontario is set to expand its population by nearly 30% over the next 30 years. Obviously, no one community is an island; growth in one area affects all of us.
To make sure all this growth has a positive impact on our communities, in 2005 the provincial government passed the Places to Grow Act. This Act set out specific growth targets and densities for the province. It also produced individual growth plans for key regions, including the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe Region. This plan is the basic rule book that is guiding planning for all the regions and municipalities in the region, including York Region and all its towns and cities. It calls for municipalities to look for ways to:
- Revitalize downtowns to become vibrant and convenient centres;
- Create complete communities that offer more options for living, working, learning, shopping and playing;
- Provide housing options to meet the needs of people at any age;
- Curb sprawl and protect farmland and green spaces; and
- Reduce traffic gridlock by improving access to a greater range of transportation options.
This plan was welcomed as great news by people who understand the need for sustainable, smart management of growth. In fact, although the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe may sound like a bit of a mouthful, it has many admirers. It has won numerous awards – including from the Ontario Professional Planners Institute, the Canadian Institute of Planners, and the American Planning Association (APA) as the first recipient from outside the United States of the APA’s Daniel Burnham Award. Watch a video that showcases why they received the award. This is the most prestigious planning award in the United States, given to a comprehensive plan that, among other things, best represents the APA’s slogan of “Making Great Communities Happen”.
So we’re pretty fortunate in York Region to have this strong policy framework, and we’ve continued to build on it to shape the York Region of the future. It’s a long-term plan, and as they say, Rome wasn’t built in a day. But bit by bit, this future vision is taking shape, and vivaNext is a key component.
Tags: American Planning Association, BRT, Bus Rapid Transit, Canadian Institute of Planners, city planning, congestion, connections, Curb sprawl, Daniel Burnham Award, Growth, Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe Region, Ontario, Ontario Professional Planners Institute, Places to Grow Act, protect farmland, rapid transit, reduce traffic gridlock, Revitalize downtowns, Toronto, Urban Planning, viva, vivaNext, York Region
Posted in Announcements, Live-work-play, Urban Planning | No Comments »
Friday, March 5th, 2010
Extending from Downsview Station in Toronto to the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre at Highway 7 in Vaughan, the Spadina subway extension will cover a total of 8.6 kilometres and include six new stations.
To date, three separate public open houses have been held to share the preliminary station design concepts with the community: Sheppard West Station on November 17, 2009, York University Station on December 3, 2009, and the Steeles West Station on February 3, 2010.
If you happened to miss the February public open house, you now have another opportunity to check out the preliminary design concept for the Steeles West Station, and be among the first to review the preliminary design concepts for the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre and the Highway 407 Stations. All three will be on display together at a public open house on Wednesday, March 10, 2010.
The preliminary design concept for the remaining new station – Finch West Station – will be presented to the public later this spring. Also, more open houses will be held later this year to share more detailed architectural concepts for all six stations so stay tuned.
Public Open House for Vaughan Metropolitan Centre, Highway 407 and Steeles West Subway Stations
Date: Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Time: 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Location: The Hilton Garden Inn, Toscana Centre
3201 Highway 7, Vaughan, ON
Tags: city planning, connections, Downsview Station, Finch West Station, GTA, Highway 407 Station, public open house, Sheppard West Station, Spadina extension, Steeles West Station, subway, subway extension, Toronto, transit, TTC, Urban Planning, Vaughan Metropolitan Centre, vivaNext, York Region, York University Station
Posted in Announcements, Stations, Subways | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 26th, 2010
An aerial view of the Steeles West Station design
In the fall of 2009, preliminary station designs were unveiled at public open houses for two of the six stations that will be located along vivaNext’s 8.6 kilometre Spadina subway extension, which will extend from Downsview Station in Toronto to Vaughan Metropolitan Centre Station in Vaughan.
Next week, on Wednesday, February 3, 2010, the preliminary design for a third station – Steeles West – will also be unveiled at a public open house and you are invited to attend.
As previously mentioned on this blog, all of the six stations that will be built along the Spadina subway extension will have a unique design. The most striking features of the Steeles West station preliminary design are its very distinctive and futuristic profile, and its central light cone, which allows daylight to reach all the way down to the platform levels. It’s truly something you have to see for yourself to appreciate.
Following this public open house, a second one featuring more detailed architectural concepts will take place for the Steeles West station in the spring of 2010. Preliminary designs for the remaining Spadina subway extension stations – Finch West, Highway 407 and Vaughan Metropolitan Centre – will also be unveiled in the coming months.
Steeles West Subway Station Public Open House
Date: Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Time: 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Location: Black Creek Pioneer Village, Garfield Weston Room
1000 Murray Ross Parkway, Toronto, ON
Tags: connections, Downsview Station, public open house, Spadina extension, Steeles West, subway, subway extension, Toronto, transit, TTC, Vaughan Metropolitan Centre Station, vivaNext, York Region
Posted in Announcements, Stations, Subways | No Comments »
Thursday, January 14th, 2010
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is one of the world’s largest and most reliable sources of comparable statistical, economic and social data. In a publication launched in November 2009 entitled “OECD Territorial Reviews: Toronto, Canada”, several of the GTA’s transportation challenges are collectively identified as a key policy issue. They include traffic congestion problems (70% of commuters use cars), poorly integrated regional transit services, and relatively underdeveloped public transport infrastructure.
To address this key policy issue, one of the publication’s key recommendations is to “tackle transportation challenges by creating incentives for reducing car use, access to additional revenue sources, [and] longer term funding commitments by federal government for investment”.
Here in York Region, we are doing our part to tackle these transportation challenges with such vivaNext initiatives as the rapidways, subways and proposed LRTs. In addition to making it faster and easier to get in and out of the GTA, they will make it up to 40% faster to travel along our Region’s busiest corridors. We believe that such incentives will significantly reduce car use, lead to economic revitalization, help the environment, and maintain the quality of life our residents have come to enjoy.
Tags: city planning, congestion, economic revitalization, environmentally friendly, GTA, OECD, Ontario, Policy issues, rapid transit, Rapidway, Regional transit services, subway, Toronto, transport infrastructure, Urban Planning, vivaNext, York Region
Posted in General, Going Green, LRT, Rapidways, Subways, Urban Planning | No Comments »
Friday, November 20th, 2009
An artist rendering of the Steeles West subway station.
Each of the six subway stations that will be built along the Spadina subway extension – a key part of the vivaNext plan – will have a unique design.
Above ground, the most striking feature of the Steeles West Station conceptual design is its very distinctive and futuristic profile. It looks like something right out of ‘The Jetsons’. Below ground, a central light cone will bring daylight all the way down to the platform levels – a solution that’s both illuminating and eco-friendly.
The Steeles West subway station will also feature a commuter parking lot with 1,900 parking spaces plus two bus terminals, including one for YRT and Viva.
Planned service frequency from Downsview Station to Steeles West Station is every two minutes, and from Steeles West Station to Vaughan Metropolitan Centre Station, every five minutes.
Tags: connections, eco-friendly, Spadina extension, Steeles West, subway extension, Toronto, tunnel boring, Urban Planning, Vaughan, Vaughan Metropolitan Centre, viva, vivaNext, York Region, York University
Posted in Going Green, Stations, Subways | No Comments »
Monday, November 16th, 2009
A key part of York Region’s vivaNext plan is the Spadina subway extension. Extending from Downsview Station in Toronto to Vaughan Metropolitan Centre Station in Vaughan, it will cover a total of 8.6 kilometres and include six stations.
This Tuesday, November 17, 2009, you are invited to attend a Public Open House to view the preliminary design concept for one of these stations – Sheppard West Station. It is the first of two public open houses for Sheppard West Station. The second one, scheduled for Spring 2010, will show detailed architectural concepts.
Sheppard West Subway Station Public Open House
Date: Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Time: 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Location: The Crystal Room (2nd Floor)
Montecassino Hotel & Event Venue
3710 Chesswood Drive, Toronto
Tags: Downsview, public open house, Sheppard West Station, Spadina subway extension, subway, subway extension, Toronto, Vaughan, Vaughan Metropolitan Centre, viva, vivaNext, York Region
Posted in Stations, Subways | 1 Comment »
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 »
Monday, August 10th, 2009
What a transit sign may look like at the Richmond Hill Centre with connections to a subway, YRT and Viva busses, and GO trains.
Last Friday, Metrolinx released its interim Benefits Case Analysis (BCA) for the Yonge North Subway extension.
The BCA was developed by Metrolinx in collaboration with the City of Toronto, the Regional Municipality of York and the Toronto Transit Commission. The analysis looked at two subway options, and a bus rapid transit option.
Here are the key findings:
- The subway options have a far greater positive impact on the environment, economy, land development and community than the BRT.
- The economic impacts of the subway options are considerable – creating 21,800 person-years of employment.
- Both subway options provide better service and reliability than the BRT. The BRT is not as reliable as the subway and would likely experience substantial overcrowding in peak hours.
- The BRT is not considered a long term solution.
- The BRT is likely limited by technology, and would not have sufficient capacity for the long-term needs of the corridor.
The proposed subway extension will meet up with the rapidways along Hwy. 7, which will soon get under construction. The combination of the rapidways and a connecting subway on Yonge St. creates a viable alternative to driving and will make it much easier for people to travel between York Region and Toronto.
While we would like to see the Yonge Subway extension proceed immediately, we know that projects of this magnitude can’t happen overnight. We will continue to work with all stakeholders and analyze the overall network elements, such as GO electrification impacts, the TTC capacity study at Yonge/Bloor, as well as the Downtown Relief Line.
The benefits of this project are significant and long-term. We will continue to work with all levels of government to ensure the funding is in place to keep this project moving forward.
The executive summary of the interim BCA is available here.
Tags: Benefits case analysis, Bus Rapid Transit, congestion, connections, Highway 7, Metrolinx, rapid transit, Rapidway, Richmond Hill, subway, subway extension, Toronto, TTC, viva, vivaNext, Yonge St., York Region
Posted in Studies, Subways | 2 Comments »
Friday, August 7th, 2009
Like Toronto, most of the great cities around the world have a subway system to connect people to key destinations and get people where they need to go faster, without relying on a personal vehicle. So how does ours compare in terms of vastness and complexity? At fakeisthenewreal.org, we found a really neat and simple linear illustration of 36 different subways systems, from Toronto to Tokyo and beyond, all shown on the same scale.
While cities such as London, Moscow, New York and Seoul all have subway systems that are both vast and complex, the ones in some cities tend to be one or the other. For instance, in San Francisco, Washington DC and Los Angeles, the subway systems are vast but not very complex. On the other hand, in Tokyo, Paris and Madrid, they are complex but not very vast. Then, of course, there are subway systems in some other cities that are neither.
So where does Toronto’s current subway system fit in? Ours is similar to those found in cities such at Athens and Delhi. It’s neither vast nor complex and consists of only a few lines covering a relatively small area.
Fortunately, the vastness of our subway system will dramatically improve with the subway extensions that are part of the vivaNext plan. They include the Spadina subway extension that will extend north-west 8.6 kilometres from Downsview Station in Toronto to the Vaughan Corporate Centre in Vaughan, and the Yonge subway extension that will extend north 6.8 kilometres from Finch Station in Toronto to the Langstaff/Richmond Hill Centre by Highway 7. Both of these subway extensions will further connect with vivaNext’s new east-west Highway 7 rapidway that will extend from Highway 50 in Vaughan to Reesor Road in Markham.
Tags: subway, subway extension, Toronto, viva, vivaNext, York Region
Posted in Subways | No Comments »