Tag: YRRTC

Categories
Innovation Urban Planning

municipalities of the future

municipalities of the future

Earlier this month we were excited to be part of the Municipalities of the Future Symposium, hosted in Vaughan by York University. President of York Region Rapid Transit Corp. [YRRTC], Mary-Frances Turner, gave the keynote presentation, talking about trends and future innovation.

megatrends

Mary-Frances’ presentation highlighted a video by HP that talked about keeping up in this ever-changing world, by planning around these “megatrends”:

  • Rapid urbanization – larger cities, more cities
  • Changing demographics – aging population and lower birthrate, shrinking workforce
  • Hyper global and hyper local – everything connected to the internet, but customization is key
  • Accelerated innovation – market for new ideas and innovative business models, businesses reinventing themselves

future innovation >> smart growth

Looking at the state of the GTA, and global examples of transportation innovation, Mary-Frances talked about the need for “smart growth” in our cities and towns. In York Region, we expect to see a 49% rise in population and a 50% increase in jobs by 2041, but traffic congestion has been the number one concern of residents for the past 13 years.

What is smart growth? It’s compact, higher density development, maximizing the amount of places to live, work and be entertained, within walking distance of transit – where mobility and connections are seamless, regardless of municipal boundaries.

Smart growth includes better access to transportation – including transit, and future innovative technology. In the GTA, we’ve already created better access to health services, education and businesses with transit:

  • Dedicated bus lanes – rapidways – at the doorstep of Southlake Hospital in Newmarket and Markham-Stouffville Hospital in Markham.
  • Direct connection to subway in Vaughan, which stops at York University.
  • Viva rapidway stations near Seneca College’s Markham Campus and the future York University campus in Markham Centre.
  • Easy access for Viva riders and pedestrians to businesses along Davis Drive in Newmarket, and Highway 7 East and West in Markham and Vaughan.

There’s much left to do, including more transit, and more transportation options. Whether it’s bus rapidways, subway extensions, car sharing or drone taxis, there is a world of options out there. At YRRTC, we’re committed to being ready, by working with others to ensure guiding policies result in a successful future, by remaining open to changes in technology and the demands of new demographics, and by thinking outside the norm.

Categories
Construction Safety

keeping our workers safe

keeping our workers safe

2017 is a huge year for the vivaNext program, with rapidway and terminal construction projects under design or taking shape in Markham, Newmarket, Richmond Hill and Vaughan.

Underlying all this construction activity is one constant priority: keeping the construction crews safe.  Obviously, our contractors aren’t unique in their commitment to safe work practices – worker safety should be a top priority for any organization. This priority is backed up with the force of law. With a few limited exceptions, every worker and work space in Ontario is required to meet the requirements of the Occupational Health and Safety Act of Ontario [OHSA].

Under the OHSA, all companies have to develop a health and safety policy, setting out management’s commitment to providing a safe workplace. To ensure this commitment is then followed up by action, the OHSA requires employers to develop and implement a safety program to implement the policy. Safety programs are required to address general safety precautions such as worker training, fire prevention and first aid, as well as procedures and requirements addressing the specific workplace hazards company workers may face.

At a minimum, vivaNext contractors are required to follow the OHSA rules, and to take all possible steps to ensure the safety of their crews. Supervisors and crews involved in roadwork are trained in safe practices working around heavy equipment and active traffic lanes, and on the precautions needed for work involving trenching. There are multiple and stringent requirements for work around utilities.

Safety on structures like our new Bus Rapid Transit [BRT] station at Vaughan Metropolitan Centre [VMC] calls for very extensive safety training. Workers working up high, like the welders, painters and crews installing the steel frame and glass, are trained in and must follow rigorous safety procedures at every step of their work. Explicit requirements are established to manage multiple activities being carried out in one area, to prevent workers accidentally encroaching into the space where other activities are underway.

Safe work requires every step to be planned in advance, and supervisors and crew are all expected to look out for each other, and to immediately flag anything they think might be unsafe. Any incident, no matter how minor, is carefully analyzed to identify potential lessons learned, to avoid it happening again. Everyone working on our projects, including our contractors, trades and all of us at vivaNext, is encouraged to point out anything they think might be a potential risk.

By empowering everyone to make safety their own personal priority, from the individual worker to the members of the senior management teams of vivaNext and our contractors, we can know that we’re doing our best to keep the crews who are widening our roads and building our stations safe and sound.

 

Categories
Urban Planning

the roads ahead

the roads ahead

By now, our projects may be familiar to you if you’ve travelled through our rapidway construction areas, or seen the vision come to life on Highway 7 and Davis Drive. Curious about where the next projects will be? Well, future transit plans are always guided by many factors, including York Region’s priorities and the other changes happening in the GTA.

York Region’s overall priorities for roads, transit, cycling and walking are set out in the Transportation Master Plan [TMP]. From this, the region’s transit operations branch, YRT/Viva, creates annual Service Plans. Within the Service Plans, changes are proposed to routes where there appears to be demand, future development or transit connections. There are plans to complete the remaining rapidway segments along the existing Viva routes on Highway 7 and Yonge Street, and Viva routes will expand in the coming years along sections of Jane Street, Major Mackenzie Drive, and Leslie Street. Typically, new Viva routes begin with service at enhanced curbside stations. Then, once funding is in place, vivaNext takes Viva out of mixed traffic by building dedicated rapidway lanes, making it truly “rapid” transit.

As always, bringing subways to York Region is a top priority, including the Yonge Subway Extension and the Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension [TYSSE]. The TYSSE will be generating excitement in the final year of construction as it makes history as the first TTC subway to cross regional boundaries. In the 2018 Service Plan there are changes being proposed as part of the Spadina Subway Transit Strategy [SSTS], helping Viva riders connect to the new subway.

So what can we expect to see on the roads ahead? We’re certain to see transformations – ones that connect transit and people – that we made together with you. And now, it’s back to building what’s next as spring construction is ramping up with better weather on the horizon.

 

 

 

Categories
vivaNext.com

want to know the difference between vivaNext and YRT/Viva?

the difference between vivaNext and YRT/Viva?

Every now and again, members of the community either see vivaNext and YRT/Viva as one and the same, or take one of us for the other. We thought we would help to clear up exactly how they differ.

The essential difference between vivaNext and YRT/Viva is what they do:

  • vivaNext plans and builds rapid transit and the facilities associated with it.
  • YRT/Viva maintains and operates the buses and system elements.

While we each operate as separate organizations, we are connected – much like cousins. Here is a little family history:

YRT/Viva

York Region Transit [YRT] came into being in 2001 when York Region amalgamated five municipal transit agencies.

Viva was launched in 2005 as an additional transit service that focused more on “rapid”. Viva Bus Rapid Transit features faster service, off-board payment and traffic signal priority technology. The next stage of Viva BRT was the move into dedicated bus lanes known as “rapidways”, and began with the route on Highway7 East in Markham. The rapidway project was designed, planned and built by vivaNext!

YRT/Viva operates both types of transit together. YRT, which travels in and out of neighbourhoods, feeds customers into Viva as one cohesive system.

vivaNext

York Region soon recognized that there was a real need for transit infrastructure projects to move forward quickly. As a result – VivaNext was born as the project name, and York Region Rapid Transit Corporation was the company managing the project. Once funding was received in 2009, vivaNext became more than a plan – it became a brand for the construction projects transforming York Region’s busiest roads. It includes dedicated lanes and Vivastations in the rapidways – as well as facilities and terminals in key locations across York Region.

As each vivaNext project is completed, YRT/Viva takes on the operations with service and maintenance plans.

Transit is evolving in York Region and vivaNext and YRT/Viva are collaboratively working together to make that happen. What it means to you is convenient transportation in attractive, well-connected communities.

Categories
Video

2016 >> all together now!

YouTube video: 2016 year in review

Some of the best songs start with just a few notes – maybe the base in a band or the baritones in a choir. Then more and more parts are added, and by the middle of the song everyone is singing or playing different parts, all in harmony. For York Region’s rapid transit system, 2016 was the “middle of the song.”

The prototype station opened in 2011 in Markham, followed by a 10-kilometre rapidway opening in 2013 and 2014 on Highway 7 East. In Richmond Hill, a LEED Silver-certified transit service facility opened in 2015. The Davis Drive rapidway in Newmarket opened for service in 2015, with some final work completed last summer.

Along with finishing Davis Drive, 2016 projects included important utility and prep work along Yonge Street in Newmarket and in Richmond Hill – temporary traffic signals, median work and retaining walls, new hydro poles, water main and gas main replacements. Similar work is being done for the rapidway on Bathurst and Centre Streets in Vaughan, and along Highway 7 west of Highway 400 to Helen Street/Wigwoss Drive.

Highway 7 in Vaughan was a symphony of activity in 2016, with construction wrapping up east of Jane Street to Bowes Road, and work moving ahead quickly on the large rapidway station west of Jane Street that will connect directly to the Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension.

Bus terminals are planned in Vaughan and in Markham, and in 2016 those projects worked through the “backstage” steps of design and procurement.

A high note in 2016 was the announcement from the Province of Ontario of $55 million in funding to advance the design and engineering for the Yonge Subway Extension [YSE]. The YSE is York Region’s top transit priority, and we’re committed to working with Metrolinx, TTC and the City of Toronto to move this project forward.

In our plans, 2016 was the year we knew most of our projects would be happening, all at the same time, and it was busy! 2017 will be full of accomplishments too, and there are even more rapid transit projects planned for the future. So we plan to keep working on every detail or “note” to make sure our song – a connected transit system – makes it to the finale!

 

Categories
Subways

subways? yes, our network will include subways

subways? yes, our network will include subways

Rapid transit plans in York Region have always included subways, along with aboveground bus and rail. Each of these has different passenger capacities, construction costs, and impacts on surrounding communities, so plans include a combination of transit types, with a focus on having a seamless network.

As far as subway is concerned, we’ve been planning for the Yonge North Subway Extension [YNSE] from Finch Station to the Richmond Hill/Langstaff Urban Growth Centre at Highway 7. The YNSE is the missing link in terms of transit for the GTHA, because Yonge Street is the central transportation artery, and has been for generations.

Because it’s the missing link, we’ve been doing critical planning and engineering studies to ensure that we’re shovel-ready. The Environmental Project Report and Conceptual Design Study are complete, and in partnership with Metrolinx, TTC and City of Toronto, we completed a Yonge Relief Network Study [YRNS] to determine Yonge Subway capacity.

The YRNS concluded that the number of already committed/funded initiatives underway will increase the capacity of Yonge subway and divert existing and future riders to other corridors. These increases in capacity will accommodate growth until 2031, and offset the immediate need for the Downtown Relief Line until after 2031.

Metrolinx has recently recommended that we move ahead with completing 15% preliminary design for the Yonge Subway extension, so we’re working very hard on that. To advance the project even more, we’re advocating to the new federal government about their recent commitment to double infrastructure investments and transform transit and transportation systems ($60 billion in additional investments over 10 years).  With our shovel-ready projects in hand, we’re looking forward to the next wave of projects.

Combined with the Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension, Regional Express Rail, new GO Train stations at Gormley and Bloomington and other transit projects, the YNSE will vastly improve the overall network for those who live, work and travel in York Region.

 

Categories
Announcements General

introducing our new board members

introducing our new board members

For those of you who have been riding along with us on this transit journey, we are excited to update you on our award-winning rapid transit initiatives as we begin 2015 and new stages of construction. This is an exceptionally exciting time for transit in Ontario, and in York Region. Over the next five years, we will be completing $3.2 billion of infrastructure, including rapidways in Newmarket, Vaughan and Richmond Hill, a state-of-the-art Operations, Maintenance and Storage Facility and more. We remain dedicated to building transit options that complement the future of York Region, knowing that everyone shares the benefits of these successes.

How do we do it? Here’s a bit of information about the governance structure and make-up of York Region Rapid Transit Corporation [YRRTC] and how we operate to deliver vivaNext plans. First, YRRTC is a 100% share capital corporation owned by York Region. Our rapidway projects are funded by Metrolinx [an agency of the provincial government], and our facilities and terminals are funded from a combination of federal, provincial and regional government sources. Our governance structure is well established through formal documents and legal agreements between YRRTC, York Region, the provincial government, the federal government and Metrolinx. These legal documents set the framework for how we work together and list the conditions of our funding.

YRRTC reports monthly to a board of directors – seven Mayors and Regional Councillors from Markham, Richmond Hill, Newmarket and Vaughan. Once appointed, they elected a Board Chairman, Vice-Chairman, and CEO. We welcome the new and returning board members:

Chairman - Frank Scarpitti, Mayor of the City of Markham Chairman
Frank Scarpitti
Mayor of the City of Markham
Vice-Chairman - Maurizio Bevilacqua, Mayor of the City of Vaughan Vice-Chairman
Maurizio Bevilacqua
Mayor of the City of Vaughan
Director and YRRTC CEO - Wayne Emmerson, Chairman and CEO of The Regional Municipality of York Director and YRRTC CEO
Wayne Emmerson
Chairman and CEO of The Regional Municipality of York
Director - Dave Barrow, Mayor of the Town of Richmond Hill Director
Dave Barrow
Mayor of the Town of Richmond Hill
Director - Tony Van Bynen, Mayor of the Town of Newmarket Director
Tony Van Bynen
Mayor of the Town of Newmarket
Director - Jim Jones, City of Markham Regional Councillor Director
Jim Jones
Regional Councillor, City of Markham
Director - Vito Spatafora, City of Vaughan Regional Councillor/Deputy Mayor Director
Vito Spatafora
Regional Councillor/Deputy Mayor, Town of Richmond Hill

 

Through monthly reports and other regular reporting tools such as business plans and annual reports, we seek direction from the board and keep them informed of project progress. These documents can be found in our website Document Library.

It’s complex, with multiple levels of government and representatives from different municipalities, but it’s a clean mission to collectively deliver rapid transit. And together we can continue to deliver these beneficial infrastructure projects to your community and ensure all needs and issues are addressed quickly and openly.