Intelligent Transportation Systems

testing, testing, 1-2-3

Have you recently travelled along Davis Drive from Yonge Street to Roxborough? It’s looking great! We’re very close to making the new bus rapid transit services available to you. What lies ahead is testing.

The testing stage – known in the construction world as commissioning – is critically important to ensure that all parts of the rapidway are ready for active service.

Here’s what’s involved

commissioning

In the case of vivaNext, commissioning involves reviewing every part of the rapidway system, including structural components and the overall communications network, to ensure that they are working the way that we’ve designed them to.

Intelligent Transportation Systems [ITS]

ITS is an international transportation-engineering discipline that aims to make all kinds of travel more efficient. You may not be able to see it, but ITS technology is a critical component of the vivaNext rapid transit project.

In general, ITS ensures that traffic corridors are designed as one coordinated system, which includes the physical roadway’s design, lane markings and signs, traffic signal design and timing, and the brains that connect all these pieces. On the vivaNext rapid transit corridors, ITS plays another role too – integrating the rapid transit system into the overall traffic corridor system.

communications network

The communications network includes the fare collection equipment; the station information systems such as variable message signs [VMS], clocks and public address [PA] systems; the passenger security elements such as closed circuit TV systems and emergency call buttons; and the traffic signals at intersections. It also includes the sophisticated Transit Vehicle Detection system, which informs traffic signals when rapid transit vehicles are approaching intersections. Finally, the overall communications network includes the fibre optic network that links all of its components.

testing, testing, testing

Testing starts at the factory, where the fabricator verifies that the equipment works as intended. Each component is then tested again when it’s installed. After this, a series of additional tests are carried out to confirm that the entire system is integrated properly and working together.

The final step involves testing the reliability and function of the system, including simulating actual operation using buses, and staff who act as passengers. This gives the people who will be involved in the future operation, maintenance and service of the rapidway an opportunity to become familiar with it.

Even though you can see construction is coming along, there’s still testing, testing, and more testing to be done before the Davis Drive rapidway opens in December. All this testing is important though; it will ensure that rapid transit on Davis Drive is as safe and efficient as possible.

Transit priority measures to get you there faster

Transit Priority Measures to Get You There Faster

I often talk about the big picture benefits of the vivaNext plan; our rapid transit system will help York Region manage growth through new transit-oriented development; reduced reliance on cars will benefit the environment; greater choice will improve the quality of life for York Region residents. And of course, the main benefit of the vivaNext plan— rapidways will allow people to get around York Region faster than before.

The vivaNext rapidways are going to make a major difference to the timeliness and efficiency of Viva service, but what you may not know is, we took steps prior to Viva’s launch to make the service as fast as was possible. We put various measures into place – collectively called “transit priority measures” – to make it easier for Viva vehicles to get through gridlock. This means that commuters on Viva are already able to cut through traffic congestion faster than people travelling in cars.

Ok, I know what you’re thinking: “There’s no way a bus can go faster than a car unless it’s in its own lane.” Allow me to explain.

In general, transit priority measures are strategies that help buses move quickly along their routes. These measures can involve physical improvements to the roadway, with the most obvious example being dedicated lanes through congested areas (like the vivaNext rapidways!). A less dramatic, but still effective approach is that of queue-jumping lanes, which allow buses to move ahead of congested traffic at intersections. We installed queue-jumping lanes for Viva’s first phase.

Another transit priority measure involves legislative steps. Have you ever noticed the big “Yield to Bus” sign on the back of buses? This transit priority measure was added to Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act to improve transit flow and make transit service more reliable and efficient. This law actually requires drivers to yield the right-of-way to buses trying to leave bus bays and merge with traffic.

The other key category of transit priority measures involves something called “intelligent transportation systems” which are signal system technologies used to improve transit efficiency. Signal systems are quite complex, but in general, modern signals analyze inputs (e.g. vehicles approaching a signal or crossing buttons being pushed by pedestrians) and decide when the traffic lights should change. Transit priority systems add another important input. A bus will automatically send a message to the traffic signal telling it to change, and the signal will adjust its timing in response, favouring the bus. This is not to say that the bus is guaranteed a green light (such as the case of an emergency vehicle), but rather that the delay to the transit vehicle is slightly reduced compared to normal operation (without the transit signal priority).

Viva vehicles don’t “ask” for priority at every signal; priority is only requested when the Viva vehicle is running behind schedule. Currently, Viva vehicles can ask for a low level of priority when they are one minute off schedule, and more immediate priority when they are three minutes behind schedule. And to provide some context, with light cycles in the Region often lasting about two minutes, missing one light can easily put a bus behind schedule. So signal priority is an important tool that helps keep the system running on time, even during the busiest times of the day.

By combining dedicated transit lanes through the most congested parts of Highway 7, Yonge Street and Davis Drive with other transit priority measures in less crowded stretches, Viva is going to offer you a ride that will be comfortable, convenient, fun—and faster than ever before.