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.
Tag: Markham
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.
Our vivaNext team had a great time at the Markham Fair talking to people from all over York Region about what our projects will mean for them. During the four-day event, we spoke to thousands of people and handed out hundreds of enviro bags, lollipops and informational brochures.
Take a look at our video below for just some of the highlights of this year’s fair, and to see what some people had to say about the vivaNext plan.
Didn’t get your chance to appear on camera and comment on vivaNext? Make your own short video talking about our projects, send it to us and we’ll post it on YouTube.
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.
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?
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.
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
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.
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!
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!