Tag: rapid transit

Categories
General LRT Rapidways

choosing the right form of transit

In September the Province set up an expert panel to look at how Metrolinx should be expanding transit in the GTHA, and to propose realistic options to pay for it.  The panel has just released their second discussion paper, and it’s well worth a read for anyone interested in getting beyond the rhetoric and really understanding the facts and issues.

Certainly the issue of what transit technology should be funded, and where it should run, is a subject that’s dominated the headlines for months and is of interest to everyone.  It’s understandable that so many have views on this subject, and it’s also reasonable to expect that the people doing the planning should listen to those views.

But in the final analysis, choosing a mode of transit – the main rapid transit options are subway, LRT, BRT and commuter train – shouldn’t be treated like a popularity contest. There’s just too much money involved.  Each mode of transit has its uses, benefits and drawbacks.  Those qualities are well known to transit planners, and need to be thoroughly and objectively analyzed in the context of local circumstances including passenger volumes, current and anticipated densities, employment projections, and present and future land use patterns.

Planners ideally will look at a range of transit modes to meet the needs of users across a region or area, with the primary consideration being a seamless system that enables passengers to make easy, fast connections.  That doesn’t necessarily mean the trip will be non-stop, or use the same technology the entire way.

This is a concept we all already live with, so we shouldn’t expect transit to be any different. Pretend you are taking a trip to a small island in the Caribbean.  You’d probably drive to the airport, then you’d get on a big jet, then most likely transfer to a smaller plane for the last leg, or maybe even a boat if you were going somewhere out of the way. You’d never expect the big jet to swing by your house to pick you up at your door, then whisk you non-stop to the tiny island.  Getting around the GTHA, depending on where you’re travelling from and to, follows the same logic.  Some riders may need to take surface transit, then transfer to one form of rapid transit – and then possibly to another mode to complete their trip.  The key point is to create a system that gets you there as fast as possible.

In a world where there’s only so much new money available for transit, careful decisions are needed to ensure final choices get the greatest number of people into transit, reducing gridlock on the road system.  The most costly option – subways – should be reserved for where it will do the most good, i.e. get the greatest number of cars off the roads.  Given that the need for new transit massively outstrips the money available, every single transit dollar needs to be spent wisely.

Professional analysis of facts has always been the basis for our vivaNext decisions. That’s why we’re installing BRT – the lowest cost form of rapid transit – along Highway 7, with the option to change to LRT when future volumes justify it.  On the other hand, the ridership and future employment projections do justify the cost of extending the subways north to the VMC, and along Yonge Street from Finch to Highway 7, so our plan includes subways too.

We’re proud of the system we’ve planned and are building for York Region, and are looking forward to the day when it will be connected to a system that covers the entire GTHA.  Now that’s something we think everyone will support.

Categories
Construction General

clearing the way for construction

If you’ve ever watched a new subdivision get built, you know how fast the work seems to advance.  Crews install utilities, build rough roads, and before you know it there’s an entire subdivision ready for families.  But building a new roadway in a densely built-up area is a completely different challenge: the work seems to go on for a long time, and progress is hard to detect unless you know what you’re looking for.

We’ve been working flat-out on Davis Drive for a year now, with dozens of complex activities underway or completed from Yonge to Leslie.  Even so, most of our effort so far has been about clearing the way, rather than constructing a rapidway and stations.

That’s the predictable reality of modernizing our roads and revitalizing Newmarket’s infrastructure, but it’s worth explaining why we can’t get going on roadway construction until these steps are completed.

A key work priority has been to build retaining walls to enable the road widening along the hilly contours of Davis Drive,  with that work now nearing completion.

And like all major thoroughfares, the foundations of the existing Davis Drive roadway are literally lined along both sides with existing critical infrastructure carrying water, telecommunications, gas, storm sewers and sanitary sewers.  Much of this infrastructure crosses the road at intervals and in many cases the various utilities are stacked up in multiple layers.  In addition, at the sides of the road are hydro poles and lines, transformers for electricity and telecommunications, fire hydrants, and a whole range of privately owned signs for businesses and commercial buildings.

As much as we love getting to the stage of putting down asphalt and constructing the beautiful viva stations, we can’t start this until the right-of-way is completely clear. Once we’ve built the retaining walls, we need to relocate everything else, one element at a time, further back and out of the way of the new wider roadway.  Relocating utilities is a complex task in itself, requiring a highly detailed level of coordination between gas, hydro, telecommunications and other utility companies.

Each type of utility has its own specific requirements about how and where it can be relocated, and which one goes deepest, which has to be installed last, and so on.  Each element requires its own program of design work and approvals.  And lastly, different crews are responsible for specific utility relocations, and there are rules about how closely they can work relative to adjacent work crews.

So the job of getting the roadway clear for construction is a huge, time-consuming and enormously detailed process – without even considering the new bridge and retaining walls that are underway. With multiple activities to be carried out in each block, some people may wonder why we’re not progressing more quickly.  But the reality is that we’ve already completed much of the work needed to clear the roadway, and widening has already started in some segments.  Because so much of the work is underground, there isn’t much to see yet.  But as crews start paving, it will feel and look like progress is starting to take shape.

Even though building a rapidway is a long process, people along Highway 7 in Richmond Hill and Markham can attest that the transformation does come to fruition. Residents and visitors alike are now enjoying the Highway 7 rapidway. We look forward to the day the Davis Drive rapidway is complete and Newmarket can enjoy the finished result too.

Categories
Construction General Live-work-play Rapidways

bringing vaughan metropolitan centre to life

We recently posted a great blog on planning that talked about the link between transit and new urban communities. Given that tomorrow (November 8), urban planners from towns and cities in over 30 countries worldwide will celebrate World Town Planning Day, we thought we would take a moment to highlight another one of York Region’s amazing communities, and see how vivaNext transit projects fit into York Region’s planning vision.

In the Region’s Centres and Corridors strategy, selected areas in Newmarket, Richmond Hill, Markham and Vaughan are targeted to have new, urban “downtowns.” They will be vibrant, higher density, attractive destinations with a full range of amenities so that people can live, work, shop and play in the same community. These “centres” will be connected by transportation “corridors” that will make it easier for people to get around the region. That’s where we come in. Our vivaNext rapidways will run along the corridors, connecting the centres through transit and safe and efficient travel options for pedestrians, motorists and cyclists alike.

You can see the vision for one of these centres coming to life in the City of Vaughan’s new video about the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre [VMC] . Located in the heart of Vaughan, centered on Highway 7, between Highway 400 and Creditstone Road, VMC will be one of the largest and most ambitious development projects in the area’s history, and is a superb location for Vaughan’s new downtown.

In the VMC, mixed-use transit-oriented development is proposed along a tree-lined main street, including businesses, residences, entertainment and cultural facilities, as well as pedestrian shopping areas. The VMC area will act as a transportation hub, including convenient passenger pick-up and drop-off, a York Region Transit bus terminal, and viva rapidways running in dedicated lanes along Highway 7.

VMC will also be home to the northernmost subway station, as part of the Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension [TYSSE], an 8.6 km subway extension from Downsview Station, northwest through York University and north to the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre. An entrance to VMC Station will be built on Millway Avenue, between Edgeley Boulevard and Jane Street to provide easy and efficient connections to other transit services.

With approximately 442 acres of development opportunities, VMC also includes:

  • Projected office development: 1.5 million SF
  • Projected retail development: 750,000 SF
  • Minimum of 12,000 residential units
  • Population potential: 25,000 new residents
  • Employment potential: 11,000 jobs of which 5,000 will be office jobs

It’s exciting to visualize how Vaughan will evolve in the years to come. To find out more about other vivaNext projects, visit our projects page.

 

Categories
General

chickens and eggs

Does great planning start with transit?  Or does transit start with great planning?  I was prompted to think about this the other day after reading an interesting newspaper article, “Why we’re better off living in hyperdense cities built around mass transit”.

The point of the article is that in many ways, we’re better off living in high density cities, as long as they have great transit so that people can live without cars. In particular, this article says the most productive and prosperous cities are those that are planned to have enough density to support a subway system.

Now it’s hard to imagine a time when everyone in York Region would choose to live without a car.  Many of the people in this region have chosen to live here expressly because they love having more room around them, and to have the countryside so nearby.  Cars will always be useful and practical in that kind of setting.

But there are many people – including an increasing number of young people – who like the idea of living and working in a walkable community, where they don’t need to have a car to carry out their daily routines.

The point of good planning is to ensure our communities provide appealing and functional options for both kinds of people.  It ensures that people who want to live in spacious suburban communities have that option without facing gridlock every time they get in their car, while meeting the aspirations of people who want to live in dynamic, urban settings with adjacent, convenient rapid transit.

Planning to make these options possible requires a long-term vision, and a commitment to invest in the infrastructure needed in the future, long before growth happens.  It also requires great transit.  But building a rapid transit system before the density is in place can only be done if there’s a strategic plan that directs densities to transit corridors, so that it all works together.  Rapid transit systems, including BRT like we’re building in York Region, require high volumes of riders to be sustainable.

Which brings me to my original question: what comes first, planning or transit?  The reality in York Region is that they’re intricately linked and interdependent.  Our planners identified many years ago that the future York Region would be bigger and more crowded, and would require more options to house people.  They also identified that those options would only be built and appeal to people if there was great transit nearby.

So the moral of the story is planning and transit need each other, and one can’t happen without the other.  Fortunately, we have both here in York Region – which means we will be able to offer more options for people, no matter what kind of community they want to live in.

Categories
Construction General Urban Planning

what is a culvert anyway?

 

I’m guessing that you probably weren’t thinking about culverts as you sipped your coffee on your commute through the construction this morning — probably not even if you passed right by one. But let me just take a moment to tell you why culverts are important – besides the obvious.

First of all, what is a culvert anyway? Well, I’m sure you’ve seen one by the side of the road, underneath a driveway, around creeks and rivers. A culvert is a tunnel or pipe of varying size, shape and material used to allow water  to move easily from one side of an obstruction (like a road or railway) to the other side.

A culvert has three main functions: to allow for stream crossing; to manage and direct water runoff; and to allow natural wildlife crossing. The first two are pretty self-explanatory, but where it gets interesting is the wildlife crossing.

Since culverts affect both animals and the environment, the Ministries of the Environment, Natural Resources and Transportation have set out specific standards for culverts. Those standards note that they must be constructed in such a way to allow any wildlife travelling through them to see light at the other side. And culverts must include material that mimic the natural landscape of the wildlife passing through it to encourage them to use the culvert for migration.

The typical lifespan of a culvert is somewhere between 10-20 years, depending on a number of factors. When water flows through a culvert frequently, as it does at eastern and western creeks in Newmarket, the culvert will naturally succumb to some erosion. With our plans to widen Davis Drive for the rapidway, we are extending the western creek culvert and removing and replacing the eastern creek culvert that was well beyond its lifespan.

It’s just one more component of an overall transformation towards vibrant urban centres, connected by a rapid transit network to help people get around.

 

Categories
Construction Live-work-play Rapidways

vivaNext – more to come

When it comes to the future of transit in York Region, you don’t have to look far. The first rapidway along Highway 7 east corridor is now up and running smoothly. With it came wide pedestrian-friendly boulevards, lined with trees and other greenery. The transformation taking place along the Viva routes will change how pedestrians, cyclists and motorists not only view the area in general, but get from A to B more easily, more safely and more efficiently.  Check out this 3600 virtual tour for a peak.

This is just the beginning of many miles of rapidway that are under construction or coming soon.  Here is an update of what’s happening.

Construction on Highway 7 East continues and crews are working hard from Highway 404 to Warden Avenue to widen the road, build pedestrian boulevards, plant trees and shrubs as well as installing utilities. This next segment of rapidway is expected to be completed in 2014.

Moving along Highway 7 west to Vaughan, you will see the vivaNext rapidway construction starting to take shape between Edgeley Boulevard and Bowes Road.  Over the last few months, crews have been working to remove signs, test soil and begin utility relocation to prepare for heavier construction.  Throughout the fall and winter, hydro, gas and telecommunications installations and relocations will continue in Vaughan.

Preliminary construction activity will also continue in other parts of Vaughan as vivaNext rapidway construction continues along Highway 7 West.   The Vaughan Metropolitan Centre [VMC] station will be completed in time with the Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension [TYSSE].  Vaughan’s VMC station will be the northernmost subway station, connecting to Viva and a variety of other transit services, for a convenient and seamless experience.

In Newmarket, as you drive or walk along Davis Drive, you’ll see that construction is in full swing and the transformation is starting to take shape. The relocation and replacement of underground infrastructure in some segments on the south side of Davis Drive is complete. In those sections, road widening and preliminary paving has started preparing the roadway for future rapidways.

Also in Newmarket, crews are working to re-locate the Historic Union Hotel and its adjoining building to their final foundations this fall. Extensive culvert work at eastern and western creek is underway.  Work continues on the north side of the Keith Bridge.  Once completed all this work will help make your travel along Davis Drive smoother and more efficient, especially if you are on transit!

Over the next few years, future rapidways will be added to the Viva routes to better service customers and make travel times shorter by up to 25%.  We know construction is messy, but the end results are marvelous!

Categories
Rapidways Stations

making our stations accessible

Making public infrastructure, such as transit services, accessible is a priority, and the new vivaNext BRT design more than complies with all the requirements.   Formally, accessibility requirements are legally concerned with people with disabilities, but that’s actually only one component of how we’ve made the stations accessible.

The vivaNext commitment is to ensure everyone feels equally welcome on the station platforms and is able to board the viva vehicles, whether they have mobility or other physical limitations, or are pushing a baby stroller, or for any other reasons they might feel uncomfortable accessing transit service.

In addition to meeting the accessibility requirements set out in Provincial and local regulatory frameworks, we’ve gone to great lengths to design the platforms so all users have a comfortable and pleasant customer experience, and obtained advice and input from the CNIB and York Region’s Accessibility Committee during the design process.

Here’s what we’ve built into the new stations to ensure all users feel safe and comfortable.

  • The ramps to the platform have a shallow incline and handrails on either side, and there are no changes of grade or tripping hazards anywhere on the platform.   For people with impaired vision, the platform edge is clearly indicated through the use of domed tactile tiles in a contrasting colour.  At the primary bus stop location there are directional tiles which provide directional grooves going toward the bus, which will be helpful for people using canes for guidance.
  • People using wheelchairs will have no difficulties getting in and out of the heated enclosures, which provide wheelchair-turning radius inside, and have doors at either end to simplify access.  And the enclosures will have barrier free doors which have been designed to meet the highest accessibility standards including their button placement and operations such as door opening speed and how the door responds if it contacts an object.
  • We’ve included benches inside the enclosure and outside, complete with grab bars for people who appreciate a little help getting up and down.  And for anyone who dreads the chilly experience of sitting on a metal bench in a Canadian winter, we’ve planned for that too – the benches are constructed from durable Brazilian Ipe wood which will make sitting a little warmer in the cold weather.
  • The electronic ITS elements are designed to ensure using the equipment is equally successful for all our customers.   Our fare equipment is designed to be functional for people at wheelchair height or with other physical limitations, with angled screens, clear, bright graphics and large push-buttons.  The VMS will provide clearly visible information on buses, routes and the time.  We extensively researched and analyzed our PA system to make sure it’s clearly audible, and provides full coverage along the platform and in the enclosures. The notice holders for system updates are posted at the right height so they’re easily read whether you’re walking or in a wheelchair.  And we’ve installed large map cases at each platform, illuminated to make it easy for everyone to navigate their route.

Overall, our objective has been to provide a comfortable, safe and welcoming experience for all our transit riders with no barriers or restrictions.

Categories
Rapidways Stations

take a tour of the new rapidways on highway 7

Rapidways are now open on Highway 7 and they’re beautiful, they’re functional, and they’re going to make a huge contribution to the transformation of our communities.  Anyone travelling along Highway 7 in Richmond Hill or Markham has seen them from the outside, but here’s a peek of what they’re like on the inside.

The first thing you’ll notice as you cross to a station is how big and airy the canopy is at 28m (92’) long and 5m (16’) high.  The curved glass above the platform also provides both weather protection and a sense of space at the same time and satisfies long-term needs as platforms accommodate two viva vehicles at once and LRT (Light Rail Transit) in the future.  The platform is approached by a gently sloped ramp with handrails on both sides, making it fully accessible to all, whether they’re walking, pushing a stroller, or in a wheelchair or scooter.  Passing by the familiar viva fin and planted planter boxes, you’ll next come to an illuminated wall map of the YRT\Viva system.

Next on the tour is a bank of fare equipment, including a Ticket Vending Machine (TVM), a Ticket Validator (TV), and two Presto machines. Once you’ve paid your fare, you’ll move to the Fare Paid Zone (FPZ), which is clearly shown by being paved with a different coloured tile on the ground, as well as by a curved sign above.  We need to show this area as distinct, as YRT fare rules require passengers to have paid their fare before moving into the FPZ.

Once you’ve paid your fare, you’re free to make yourself comfortable on the platform until the next bus arrives.  We’re making it easy for you to know how long you’ve got to wait, with a large VMS (Variable Message Sign) projected from the canopy.  The VMS scrolls through all the upcoming arrivals, telling you exactly when the next bus will arrive.  Because the VMS system is connected to the GPS in our actual vehicles as well as the central transit scheduling software, it can be constantly updated to provide accurate and real-time information.

But if you decide you want to sit down on a bench, or get comfy out of the elements, we’ve made that easy too.  The fully heated glass enclosure is well lit, and accessed by two push-button automatic doors.  The heaters – which won’t be needed anytime soon, but you’ll like them come later this year, they’re like the infrared heaters in a hockey arena – will automatically turn on if someone enters the enclosure, and if the temperature in the enclosure feels lower than 10 degrees Celsius.  Multiple benches and garbage disposal units will add to your comfort.

The entire platform will be well lit, with lighting inside the canopy as well as on the platform.  And to enhance your feelings of comfort and security, the back of the platform is protected from the Highway 7 traffic by a barrier wall topped with a guardrail, and there are multiple security features including cameras and an emergency call button.

Last but not least, to help you stay oriented, wayfinding signage will show you where the buses will stop, and other features including the way to the crosswalk.

It’s hard to do the stations justice by written descriptions, so we have created a virtual tour to entice you to come out and try viva.

Categories
Construction Rapidways

colour coding the rapidway

As I’ve posted previously, Bus Rapid Transit is an increasingly popular rapid transit technology around the world [Bus Rapid Transit: growing around the world, Bus Rapid Transit: South America leads the way].   One of the ways to make BRT truly rapid, as we’re doing here in York Region, is to provide vehicles with separate lanes so they can move easily through congested areas.  And one way to make those lanes distinct without having an actual grade separation (which would require extra room as well as be much more costly) is to make them a different colour.  This is why the vivaNext rapidways are bright red, as you’ll have seen if you’ve driven along Highway 7 East recently.  These red lanes are for viva transit vehicles only and cars need to be careful not to drive into them for everyone’s safety.

But colouring asphalt anything other than basic black isn’t as easy as you might think.  Here’s what we’ve done to get our rapidways red.

Painting asphalt isn’t an option. Although it’s something we all take for granted, creating a long-lasting, durable asphalt mix for the conditions along a busy roadway like Highway 7 is actually a highly specialized science.  The surface on roadways that carry a lot of heavy traffic, especially traffic that is constantly turning and braking or accelerating at intersections, needs to be exceptionally strong to prevent cracking, rutting and shifting.  Canadian climate conditions including extreme temperature changes, hot sun, frost, and salting over the winter, all impose significant challenges.  Creating an asphalt mix to take these conditions without requiring frequent maintenance is something that specialized pavement designers work long and hard to achieve, with the technology constantly evolving.

So adding in the requirement to make it a distinct colour definitely adds to the complexity.

Using red pavers or bricks would not provide a sufficiently durable driving surface long term, and would be extremely costly to install and maintain.  One approach that is used when the colour is needed in very limited areas, such as crosswalks or bike lanes, is a material called “street print”.  But this material, which is actually a special top layer that’s heated right into the asphalt once it has been imprinted with a brick or paver pattern, would be too complicated to use along the full length of the rapidways (although we are using it for our crosswalks), and again would not be durable enough.

So the best approach is to tint the black asphalt, which we’re accomplishing in a couple of ways.   Asphalt is composed of a mixture of sand, stones and asphalt cement binding it together.  By adding reddish stones rather than grey ones, we can give an underlying red tint to the asphalt, especially as it wears.

The more complex adjustment is to add a special red pigment.  The challenge with the pigment is to be careful in how much we add:  too little and the colour doesn’t come through, but too much and the overall durability of the asphalt might be compromised.  The pavement design team has worked long and hard through a highly technical process to get the balance just right.

We’re delighted with their final results, which will give us what we need: a clearly defined rapidway that stands out from the regular traffic lanes, with a long-lasting and durable surface, at an affordable price.  Drivers need to remember as they make turns from side streets along Highway 7 to follow the white skip lines and not turn onto those red rapidways!  Although beautiful, they are red for safety too!

 

Categories
General Rapidways Stations

we can hear you, loud and clear

As I wrote earlier this summer, our engineers have worked hard to design the optimal public address system for your new vivastations.  Here’s what the system will include, and how good it’s going to sound.

Most PA systems are pretty frustrating in the garbled sound quality they provide.  We knew we wanted to do much better.  There’s nothing worse than knowing something important is being said, but not being able to understand it.

To make sure the new PA system is always audible, we started with an acoustic analysis study using special “Enhanced Acoustic Simulator for Engineers” (EASE) software. This study analyzed the two elements most critical to sound: Sound Pressure Level (SPL) and Speech Transmission Index (STI). The SPL, measured in decibels (dB), is concerned with sound magnitude and takes into account ambient noise levels – it is the relative “loudness” of a sound.  STI predicts how the equipment being used and the surrounding environment will affect the quality of the sound, and therefore how intelligible it is for you as you hear it.

First, the acoustic engineers needed to determine what effects our curved canopies and the beams and angles inside the station would have on the way sound is going to move around.  Secondly, the reflection of sound by the concrete wall, floor and glass was modeled. This analysis helped predict how clear the final sound will be on the platform and in the enclosure, and also helped determine the number and placement of speakers that will be most effective in achieving clear sounds.

Following this sophisticated modeling the engineers determined that the optimal number of speakers to achieve our goals would be 12 speakers located outside of the passenger enclosure, and another 3 speakers inside.

The next challenge was to work on the volume to be used by the speakers.  The problem with PA systems in noisy places is that the ambient noise can overwhelm the volume of the PA system, making it impossible to hear what’s being said.  Our solution is to use a speaker volume system that automatically adjusts when its sensors detect that the ambient noise has increased or decreased.

There are two sensors on each viva platform to measure noise level. This way, announcements should be audible whether there’s a bus idling in the station and trucks are moving past, or it’s nighttime and quiet.

The PA system will be used for recorded and live announcements from transit operations, such as emergency information or service changes, but will not announce bus arrivals although it does have that capability.

Although we’ve tested the system many times, we continue to monitor the sound levels now that operations have started.  We hope you have been out to test drive the first section of rapidways now open on Highway 7 and let us know if you can truly hear us, loud and clear.