Tag: BRT

Categories
Rapidways Subways Urban Planning

We talk a lot about the rapidways, subways and LRTs that are coming.

But when you boil it down, that’s not what vivaNext is really about. VivaNext is the plan to provide you with faster and easier rapid transit connections, so you have more time to enjoy whatever awaits you at your final destination. It’s not only our goal; it’s our slogan – “vivaNext. it’s about connections. it’s about time.”

Transit hubs at the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre and Richmond Hill/Langstaff Urban Growth Centre, where the Spadina and Yonge subway extensions will respectively meet Highway 7, is just one way vivaNext plans to improve connections. At these locations, riders will be able to make convenient connections with Viva, GO Transit commuter rail and express buses, YRT and other transit systems.

Rapidways is yet another way vivaNext is putting the rapid into rapid transit – up to 40% faster. How? By featuring dedicated centre lanes in roadways to allow our beautiful blue Viva vehicles to safely speed past congested traffic, no matter what time of day.

So tell us…When the vivaNext projects are complete, which connection point will be the most important for your daily commute?

Categories
Announcements Live-work-play Rapidways Subways

And the new name is…

An artist rendering of what an intersection at the new Vaughan Metropolitan Centre may look like in the future. It is complete with subway and rapidway stops, high rise condos, offices, shops and restaurants.
An artist rendering of what an intersection at the new Vaughan Metropolitan Centre may look like in the future. It is complete with subway and rapidway stops, high-rise condos, offices, shops and restaurants.

The City of Vaughan’s downtown core will undergo a transformation over the next several years. Encompassing 125-acres, development plans include office and residential towers, shopping and entertainment complexes, plenty of green spaces and pedestrian walkways, and, of course, vivaNext rapid transit connections.

In recognition of all the exciting changes to come, Vaughan City Council determined that a change of name – from Vaughan Corporate Centre – was in order to better reflect the true vision and future of this key hub.

This summer, the City held a contest where people were encouraged to submit their suggestions. Almost 1,600 entries were received, including Central Vaughan, Vaughan Gateway, Vaughan Mosaic Centre and Vaughan Nexus.

In the end, Vaughan Metropolitan Centre was chosen as the winning entry by the City subcommittee that reviewed all the submissions, which consisted of business stakeholders and citizens.

“People wanted something that’s easy enough to remember and still reflected what we want to see from the downtown,” said Councillor Sandra Yeung Racco, who chaired the City subcommittee.

To view a video of the future transformation of Vaughan Metropolitan Centre, please click here or visit vivaNext.com.

Categories
Rapidways Subways

Pop quiz for students

All aboard!
All aboard!

If you are a student, you’ll be heading back to school next week so we thought we would get you ready for some of those really hard tests with a little pop quiz. Luckily for you, this is an open book/computer quiz and help can be found on our website and blog.

1) What major university will have two subway stops running by it within the next six years?

2) What College campus in Markham will have a rapidway stop right outside its door within three year?

3) What high school at Warden and Highway 7 will have a rapidway stop outside its doors within three years?

4) What public high school in Newmarket will have a rapidway stop only a short walk away from its doors?

5) What Richmond Hill high school may have a subway stop a few blocks from its doors?

Good work, pencils down.

So as you can see, the rapidways and subway extensions will make it a lot easier for students from many different areas to get to school and travel in to, out of and around York Region.
If you are a student, how will our future projects help you get to school?
Good luck this school year.

Answers: 1) York University 2) Seneca College, Markham Campus 3) Unionville High School 4) Huron Heights Secondary School 5) Langstaff Secondary School
Categories
Live-work-play Rapidways Urban Planning

Bringing the vivaNext vision for Markham into focus

An artist rendering of what the new Downtown Markham transit-pedestrian mall may look like.
An artist rendering of what the new Downtown Markham transit-pedestrian mall may look like.

Markham Centre is on the verge of becoming a world-class, mixed-use urban centre and a key destination place.

For example, construction on Downtown Markham is well underway and features the first transit-pedestrian mall in the GTA with businesses, residences, shops, restaurants, theatres and a 10-acre world-class park for people to enjoy without having to drive to get here.

Viva riders travelling along Highway 7 will be able to make seamless and convenient connections in Markham with GO Transit commuter rail and express buses, YRT local bus services, and the future 407 transitway. Bicycle racks will also be available at vivastations and on Viva vehicles for those who choose to cycle.

To view artist renderings of the vivaNext vision for Downtown Markham, click here or visit the Media Centre at vivaNext.com.

Have you visited a transit-pedestrian mall in another country? Tell us about your experience.

Categories
Rapidways Stations

How level boarding at our new vivastations will further enhance service efficiency

With level boarding, the vehicle will pull up to a raised platform. This greatly increases the time it takes for passengers to get on and off the vehicle making for a faster trip.
This is a rendering of a viva vehicle stopping at a new vivastation. With level boarding, the vehicle will pull up to a raised platform. This greatly decreases the time it takes for passengers to get on and off making for a faster trip.

Viva is already a highly efficient rapid transit service thanks to features such as our off-board fare collection system. It’s going to get even better. In addition to our new vivaNext rapidways – which will take our beautiful blue Viva vehicles out of mixed traffic and put them on dedicated centre lanes so they can safely speed past congested traffic – our new vivastations will feature level boarding.

What do I mean by level boarding? Simply that the platforms at our new vivastations will be raised so they are about the same height as the floor of our Viva vehicles. This, in turn, will speed up the boarding process by eliminating the need for riders to climb steps or lift objects, and for Viva drivers to lower ramps for easier accessibility.

Level boarding is already successfully used throughout the world by other BRT, LRT and subway systems to enhance service efficiency. It only made sense to make it a feature of our new vivastations so that we can get you where you want to go faster and easier, and like never before.

Can you think of other things that might make your rapid transit experience even better?

Categories
Going Green Rapidways Urban Planning

Bogotá, Colombia cashes in on its rapid transit success story

A Transmilenio bus travels in its dedicated lane through the streets of Bogotá, Colombia. Photo courtesy of DianaCats.
A Transmilenio bus travels in a dedicated lane through the streets of Bogotá, Colombia. This system has earned the city up to $300 million through selling carbon credits. Photo courtesy of DianaCats.

, one of Bogotá, Colombia’s major thoroughfares, used to resemble a noisy, tangled, smoke-laden parking lot jam-packed with motorcycles, cars and small, privately operated buses. Then, beginning in 2001, it became part of a 7-line bus rapid transit system in the city known as TransMilenio.

In addition to making it faster and easier for the 1.6 million commuters who use the system each day to reach their destinations, TransMilenio has enabled the city to eliminate 7,000 of the small buses from its thoroughfares. This, in turn, has led to a more than 59% reduction in the use of bus fuel and associated CO2 and other emissions.

In recognition of this remarkable “green” achievement, last year the United Nations granted approval to TransMilenio to generate and sell carbon credits to developed countries that exceed their emissions limits under the Kyoto Protocol. According to analysts, this has already generated an estimated $100 million to $300 million in revenue for the city’s coffers.

Closer to home, York Region residents can look forward to a faster, easier and more environmentally friendly alternative to driving along busy routes such as Highway 7 with our vivaNext rapidways, which will allow our beautiful blue Viva vehicles to safely speed past congested traffic.

Related articles:
The New York Times
Mother Nature Network

Categories
Community Events

Team vivaNext will be at the Woodbridge Italian Festival this weekend

Soccer teams of every description will be out in full force this Saturday, August 1 and Sunday, August 2 at the annual Woodbridge Italian Festival, taking place at the Ontario Soccer Centre, 7601 Martin Grove Road, just south of Highway 7.

The vivaNext team will also be there from 3 to 11:30 p.m. each day to cheer participants on and talk to residents about vivaNext projects, including the Highway 7 rapidway, which will make it so much faster and easier to take transit to events like this one in the future.

In addition to such soccer highlights such as the “VIP Soccer Challenge” between Vaughan City Council and members of the media, festival attendees of all ages can look forward to two spectacular days filled with food, entertainment, fashion, music, games and much more. Plus, if you are there Saturday evening, you will get to see the Miss Woodbridge Italia Pageant. Best of all, admission for everything is free.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Categories
Community Events Ways to win

Thanks to all our visitors for a winning four days at the malls.

A young girl fishes at our Markville Mall Pond last Friday hoping to win one of our cool summer prizes.
A young girl fishes at our Markville Mall pond last Friday hoping to win one of our cool summer prizes.

This past Thursday through Sunday, vivaNext teams were out in full force at various York Region malls including Markville, Upper Canada and Vaughan Mills. Thousands of visitors stopped by our booths to putt golf balls and fish in our ponds for instant prizes like beach balls, flying discs and magnetic puzzles.

Of course, there was also plenty of great chitchat about vivaNext. People were really excited to learn that we’ll soon be breaking ground on the rapidways, which will make it up to 40% faster to get around York Region’s busiest corridors when completed.

If you missed us at the malls, not to worry because you could still win with vivaNext. If you haven’t entered our Next Best Thing To Summer Contest, you have until this Friday, July 31, 2009, to do so.

You could win cool summer gear in one of our daily prize draws plus our Grand Prize of a handy iPod touch® so you can get up-to-date vivaNext construction and project information wirelessly. Good luck to all our entrants!

Categories
Rapidways Stations

Where do you think we should place the bicycle racks?

One possible location for the bike racks is on the platforms as you can see in this rendering.
One possible location for the bike racks is on the platforms, as you can see in this 3D model.

As part of the vivaNext plan, beautiful new vivastations will be built in the centre of the roadway along the rapidways on Davis Drive, Yonge Street and Highway 7, as well as the proposed LRT lines on Don Mills Road/Leslie Street and Jane Street in York Region. From the top down, these vivastations have been designed around you. Among their many features and benefits, they will include bicycle racks for quick and easy transit connections.

Right now, we’re examining where to place these bicycle racks and would like to hear your thoughts. There are basically three options to consider.

Option 1 – Place them right on the platforms. This would allow you to conveniently lock your bicycle up right at your point of departure and simply board the next Viva vehicle. On your return Viva trip, you’ll arrive at the same station, but on a different platform. To get your bicycle, all you’d have to do is go back to the original departure platform.

Option 2 – Place the bicycle racks on the sidewalks at the intersections adjacent to the vivastations.  This option would make it more convenient for you to shop, run errands and meet up with friends after your return Viva trip before picking-up your bicycle.

Option 3 – Distribute the bicycle racks evenly on both the platforms and the sidewalks.

So which option do you prefer? Please take a moment to let us know because here at vivaNext, we value your opinion – even when it comes to bicycle racks!

Categories
Community Events Ways to win

Coming to a mall near you…with more chances to instantly WIN!

Putt through the hole at one of three York Region malls this weekend for your chance to win cool summer gear.
Putt through the hole at one of three York Region malls this weekend and win cool summer gear.

Our vivaNext teams are headed out to some malls this Thursday through Sunday. Stop by for some fun and games and you could instantly WIN cool summer gear. Of course, we’ll also be handing out some important information about vivaNext projects and answering any questions you may have. To find us at any of the malls listed below, simply look for all the activity around our big, bright Next Best Thing To Summer display booth. We look forward to seeing you.

Mall Schedule:

Thursday, July 23
• Markville (10am to 9pm)
• Upper Canada (9:30am to 9pm)
• Vaughan Mills (10am to 9 pm)

Friday, July 24
• Markville (10am to 9pm)
• Upper Canada (9:30am to 9pm)
• Vaughan Mills (10am to 9pm)

Saturday, July 25
• Markville (9:30am to 6pm)
• Vaughan Mills (10am to 9pm)

Sunday, July 26
• Markville (11am to 6pm)
• Upper Canada (11am to 5pm)
• Vaughan Mills (11am to 7pm)

A mother putts with her son at our golf game challenge. He won a flying disc.
A mother putts with her son at our golf game challenge at Upper Canada Mall last weekend. He won a flying disc and she learned about the rapidways coming to Newmarket.