Tag: BRT

Categories
Community Events Rapidways Subways Ways to win

Be on the lookout for our vivaNext ‘segway’ team at Vaughan Mills this weekend

Two members of our segway team texting to win. When you see them near Vaughan Mills Mall this weekend ask how you could win the new iPod nano®.Two members of our segway team texting to win at Markville Mall. When you see them near Vaughan Mills Mall this weekend ask how you could win the new iPod nano®*.

Over the past two weekends, our vivaNext ‘segway’ team made appearances outside of Markville Mall and the Markham Home Show. Even in the pouring rain, they were a tremendous hit, attracting a lot of attention from Markham area residents. This, in turn, allowed us to drive awareness of vivaNext projects and communicate how to enter our new contest for a chance to win the new iPod nano®*. It’s so easy you could do it right now. All you have to do is text the word vivaNext to the number 101010.**

Now our vivaNext ‘segway’ team is preparing for their next appearance outside of Vaughan Mills this coming weekend. On Saturday and Sunday, they will be out in force to talk with Vaughan area residents about vivaNext projects in their area including the Spadina subway extension and the Highway 7 rapidway, which will both extend to the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre. As well, our vivaNext team will have a booth set up inside the mall from Friday through until Sunday, to ensure that we are able to talk to as many people as possible about our projects.

We hope to see you there!

Outside mall segway hours:
Saturday, October 24      noon – 4pm
Sunday, October 25        noon – 4pm

Inside mall booth hours:
Friday, October 23         10am – 9pm
Saturday, October 24     10am – 9pm
Sunday, October 25       11am – 7pm

* “iPod nano” is a registered trademark of Apple, Inc. All rights reserved. Apple, Inc. is not a participant in or sponsor of this promotion.
** Wireless service provider charges may apply.
Categories
Rapidways Subways vivaNext.com

Add your business’s name to our wall of support

Across York Region, all kinds of large and small businesses are taking the time to show that they are 100% behind vivaNext projects by sending letters of support.

They recognize that traffic congestion and the lack of convenient transit alternatives have directly impacted their business through lost employee productivity and absenteeism, and that revitalization is needed along some key corridors.

Over the next 20 years, York Region’s population is expected to increase by 50% and the number of jobs by 100%. To help manage this growth and businesses succeed in the future, a faster and more convenient rapid transit system is essential – vivaNext.

To see a list of those businesses that have already sent letters of support and had their names added to our wall of support, visit vivaNext.com/wall_of_support.

If your business would like to write a letter of support for vivaNext projects and be added to our wall of support, please send a message to contactus@vivanext.com.

Categories
Community Events Ways to win

The vivaNext ‘segway’ team will continue to drive awareness at the Markham Home Show this weekend

Team vivaNext member, Donald Chang, speaks with a woman interested in the rapidways coming to York Region Friday at the Home Show.
Team vivaNext member, Donald Chang, speaks with a woman interested in the rapidways coming to York Region Friday at the Home Show.

They’re back! Our vivaNext ‘segway’ team was such a big hit at Markville Mall last weekend, they’ll be making an appearance again this weekend at the Markham Home Show.

In addition to driving awareness of vivaNext projects, they’ll be getting the word out about our new contest where you could WIN the new iPod nano®* simply by texting the word Viva to the number 101010.**

Our vivaNext team will also have a booth inside the Show, where they’ll be showcasing time-lapse animations of vivaNext projects. It’s a great opportunity to see what York Region could look like in the future.

Show hours:
Friday, October 16      1 – 9pm
Saturday, October 17   10am – 7pm
Sunday, October 18     10am – 5pm

For more information, please click here.
If you would like to see a map and get directions, please click here.

VivaNext team members will also have a booth inside at Upper Canada Mall this weekend, where they’ll be talking to people about vivaNext projects and showing them how they could WIN the new iPod nano®* when they text the word Viva to the number 101010.**.

Mall hours:
Friday, October 16      9:30am – 9pm
Sunday, October 18     11am – 5pm

We hope to see you in one or both of these places this weekend!

* “iPod nano” is a registered trademark of Apple, Inc. All rights reserved. Apple, Inc. is not a participant in or sponsor of this promotion.
** Wireless service provider charges may apply.
Categories
Community Events Ways to win

Team vivaNext drives awareness while riding on segways at Markville Mall

Team vivaNext members attracted a lot of attention riding around on segways outside Markville Mall this past Thanksgiving weekend. They were there to talk to people about vivaNext projects and show them how they could WIN the new iPod nano®* in our new contest by texting the word Viva to the number 101010.** We also had a booth inside the mall to make sure we were able to talk to as many people as possible. Take a look at the crowds that gathered around the segways and our booth, and what they had to say about the vivaNext rapidways and subway extensions.

* “iPod nano” is a registered trademark of Apple, Inc. All rights reserved. Apple, Inc. is not a participant in or sponsor of this promotion.
** Wireless service provider charges may apply.

Categories
Announcements Community Events Ways to win

More fun + great prizes en route!


It’s been about a month since Larisa Roiberg, the Grand Prize winner in our Next Best Thing to Summer Contest, picked up her brand new iPod touch®. Now, here I am again letting you know about our exciting new contest beginning October 9, 2009, and running through until October 30, 2009.

This time, the Grand Prize that’s en route is the new iPod nano®.* Plus, we’ll be giving away great daily prizes including Tim Hortons gift certificates, Cadillac Fairview mall gift certificates, movie passes, and YRT\Viva 2-zone passes.

The goal of this latest contest is to highlight all of the great things that are en route with the vivaNext plan – faster transit, better connections and attractive boulevards.

Simply visit vivaNext.com for entry details. You can enter once a day. Each time you do, you get a chance to win the daily prize plus the Grand Prize. That means you can get up to 22 chances to win the new iPod nano®.

Good luck! 🙂

* “iPod nano” is a registered trademark of Apple, Inc. All rights reserved. Apple, Inc. is not a participant in or sponsor of this promotion.
** Wireless service provider charges may apply.
Categories
Community Events

Kick off fall with vivaNext at the Markham Fair

Team vivaNext at the Fair on Thursday.
Team vivaNext at the Fair on Thursday.

One of the biggest Markham community events of the year is going on right now on the Markham Fairgrounds. In fact, it is also Canada’s largest four-day agricultural fair.

Over 80,000 people are expected to visit the fairgrounds to watch a demolition derby, monster trucks, an FMX bike demonstration, a tractor and truck pull, a teen talent show, a horse show, live music and more. Even Dora the Explorer is making an appearance on Sunday and will meet and greet the kids.

In addition to all these activities, the vivaNext team will also be there to talk to you about our new rapidways that will get you around York Region’s busiest corridors faster. We will have our booth set up inside with a team ready to answer your questions.

The Fair runs today through Sunday and is located on McCowan north of Major MacKenzie. For more information on how to get there, the price of admission, and the hours, please click here.

For a $2 off adult admission coupon provided through the Markham Fair website, please click here.

We look forward to seeing you at the Markham Fair.

Categories
Announcements Rapidways Subways

Customized vivaNext email updates are just a click away

So far, over 4,000 people have signed-up to receive our regular vivaNext email updates. Perhaps you’re one of them. Recently, we made it possible for you to customize the updates you receive.

You can now choose to receive email updates for a specific vivaNext project – or all of them if you want.

To do so, simply click here or visit our “subscribe for updates” page at vivaNext.com and select from the following list:

Davis Drive rapidway
Highway 7 rapidway – Markham
Highway 7 rapidway – Vaughan
Yonge Street rapidway
Yonge Subway extension
Spadina Subway extension
Don Mills Road/Leslie Street LRT
Jane Street LRT

It’s as fast to sign-up as it will be to travel in York Region with vivaNext.

Tell us – which vivaNext project interests you the most?

Categories
Urban Planning vivaNext.com

Futuristic view of York Region

Click on this button in the top right of our website and watch the video.
Click on this button in the top right of our website and watch the video.

For the past few months, we’ve been showing futuristic computer renderings of key growth centres within York Region and what they could look like years down the road with the rapidways. These renderings are really just a small part of a longer video that we have been working on that includes time-lapse animation segments showing the transformation of Newmarket, Markham Centre and Vaughan Metropolitan Centre.

You can now watch the full version on our website or scroll down to the bottom of this post. When you are on the website, just click on the icon at the top-right of every page that says “the future of viva”.

The video follows one girl’s journey as she grows up taking transit around York Region and witnesses these three key areas transform. As rapidways are built along Davis Drive, the streetscape is revitalized, a pedestrian mall with mixed-use development is built at Markham Centre, and high-rise condos and offices are built at Vaughan Metropolitan Centre. The video ends with the girl, now in her 20s, walking to a subway station at Richmond Hill Centre.

These changes won’t happen overnight, but if you wonder how our community could evolve with these transit improvements and development planning, you have to take a look at this video. The transformation is quite remarkable!

What do you think of the time-lapse animation segments? Can you picture yourself walking down the Markham Centre pedestrian mall or hopping on a subway at the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre? Let me know your thoughts on the future of York Region.

Categories
Community Events Rapidways Subways

York University students get an A+ for enthusiasm!

Team vivaNext member, Donald, shows students where the new Spadina subway extension will run on a map during the Annual Clubs BBQ last Wednesday.
Team vivaNext member, Donald, shows students where the new Spadina subway extension will run on a map during the Annual Clubs BBQ last Wednesday.

VivaNext teams had such a great time talking to York University students on campus last week about how our new rapidways and subway extensions will make it faster and easier to get to school in the future. Over a two-day period, we had the opportunity to speak to hundreds of students who use rapid transit to commute to class from all over York Region. Boy, did they get excited when they learned that rapidway stops will be near their campus within the next four years, and subway stops right on their campus within the next six years.

On Wednesday, our first day on campus, we were at the Annual Clubs BBQ at Vanier Field. While the line-up for burgers was incredibly long, the one at our vivaNext booth was pretty impressive as well. Then the next day, Thursday, we took part in the Transportation Fair at York Lanes along with other transit organizations, car share companies and cycling networks. It gave York University students a chance to explore a wide range of present and future commuting options – including Viva – all in one convenient location.

Perhaps you were there? If so, we’d love to hear what you think about the vivaNext plan and what impressed you the most.

Categories
General Studies Urban Planning

Ridership across country to soar shows study

Passengers wait to board Viva.
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?