Tag: York Region

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Announcements Press

$3 billion for transit from Ontario Budget

When reviewing the Ontario Budget, one thing became abundantly clear with respect to public transit – there’s a serious commitment to it. The budget set aside more than $3 billion in funding for transit over the next two years!

The budget says the government will be “focusing on quick-start projects”. These are infrastructure projects that are already well planned and in a position to create immediate economic stimulus and create jobs. That’s exactly where vivaNext shines.

I applaud the Ontario Government for making such a significant funding commitment to public transit. Doing so will not only help provide an economic stimulus and create jobs, it will also help future generations to be less dependent on driving vehicles.

The cover of the 2009 Ontario Budget
The cover of the 2009 Ontario Budget
Categories
Urban Planning

Great cities are planned…and then built

We’ve all heard the old adage, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” While popular proverbs can be annoying, there is usually a good reason why people throw them around so much.

Did you know that despite the fact that Rome was built thousands of years ago, it is a shining example of urban planning. The Romans were remarkable, designing their cities in a grid, with two main thoroughfares crossing the city to facilitate the flow of traffic.

The “Rome” axiom is one of the favourites we like to throw around here in the office. Like any infrastructure project, a lot of planning and hard work goes on before a shovel is put in the ground.

Philosopher Leopold Kohr once said: “Men do not love Rome because she is beautiful; Rome is beautiful because men have loved her.” Just as the Romans carefully planned and nurtured their city, we have been working very hard and considering feedback from the community along the way in every detail of the vivaNext plan.

As the plans are put into action over the next few years, we hope that you will be proud of the high quality transit system that we’re building together.

Can you think of a more fitting adage?

Categories
Announcements General vivaNext.com

Welcome to vivaNext

Welcome to the vivaBlog. I’m Dale Albers, Chief Communications Officer with York Region Rapid Transit Corporation. I could tell you we started this blog because my kids thought it would be cool, but that wouldn’t be accurate. Truth is, there are a lot of changes coming to Viva and not everyone has the time to come to public meetings to talk about it.

Don’t get me wrong, turnout at our public meetings has been amazing with hundreds of people in attendance. Even our webcasts attracted over 7,000 unique visitors.

But people don’t just write letters or e-mails anymore. They’re creating wikis, tweeting transit slowdowns, blogging about the Yonge Street Subway expansion and creating facebook groups to discuss how we can make vivaNext a better plan.

But here is the question. If you’re online talking about vivaNext, shouldn’t we be there to listen and participate in the discussion?

That’s what I hope this blog will do.

I’ll post two or three times a week and look forward to following the discussion and interjecting when I can. If you see a post or an article you’d like us to respond to, post it and we’ll chat. I’ll do my best to answer your questions as the vivaNext plan takes shape throughout York Region.

Tell your friends to get onboard and tell me what’s on your mind.