[Electrify]

YRT readies for next generation

Big changes are in store for York Region Transit in the coming years, as the system matures with the coming of rapid transit and a new subway.
The region has unveiled its 2012 YRT/Viva service plan and the document that will guide the system for the next five years.
In 2015, the Spadina subway extension will open and the first of Viva’s rapidways will see buses running in their own lanes and out of mixed traffic. That means YRT is going through a transition period as it realigns ahead of those fundamental changes, general manager Rick Leary said.
Since taking over the position in 2009, he has moved to improve on-time performance and streamline the system into something that will lure a population used to favouring cars over transit.
“It’s an exciting problem to help overcome,†he said.
The two main thrusts of the five-year plan are providing truth in advertising when it comes to travel times and dealing with heavily subsidized routes, some of which cost more than $25 every time someone boards a bus.
For one thing, the amount of time between buses will increase in many areas.
Mid-day routes that run every 30 minutes will shift to every 45 minutes and routes that may run every hour will change to every 80 or 90 minutes.
At first glance, that seems to be a service reduction, but it’s really about meeting rider needs and improving efficiency, Mr. Leary said.
And it’s something customers get when it’s explained.
It’s better (and cheaper) to have three buses running full and on-time than four running off-schedule and largely empty.
By more accurately meeting demand and providing a schedule it knows it can meet, YRT aims to give customers a reliable service that has been lacking, he said.
The alternative, he explained to the transportation committee this week, would be spending another $10 million to try meeting advertised times.
As transportation commissioner Kathleen Lewellyn-Thomas told the committee, “We publish the schedule we know we can make.â€
The changes will also save money as the region purchases 58 fewer buses than previously anticipated during the next five years.
It’s a philosophy that’s already in play on several routes and Mr. Leary credits it for the increase in ridership seen in recent months.
Despite a strike that shut down 60 per cent of service as of Oct. 24, the region still looks set to hit a ridership record for 2011, even if it’s short of the 21.8 million riders it eyed before the strike.
With numbers in for November, overall ridership was down just 35 per cent, with riders flocking to those routes still in operation.
Acknowledging hardships continue for many riders, Mr. Leary said he was encouraged to see riders sticking with the system.
Despite the challenges of getting suburbanites onto buses, Mr. Leary pointed out with 25,000 to 30,000 new people moving in every year, there won’t be a thriving region if everyone keeps opting for cars.
Work will soon begin on the specifics of the 2013 service plan, with public information centres and other efforts taking place in the coming months.

http://www.yorkregion.com/news/article/1278873--yrt-readies-for-next-generation

Shame too, since my local bus (86 Weldrick-Newkirk) is having its route streamlined to make it far more usable rather than twisting through as many cul-du-sacs as possible. Of course, reducing the already pitiful frequency from 60 to 90 minutes will make the route practically useless, no matter how streamlined the line becomes.

This is of course assuming that the various contractors ever finish their strike, since as of now there is no service at all on the 86.

 

[doady]

Increased running time results from traffic congestion or higher ridership (i.e. the buses stop more often). When the speed of the buses decline they have to reduce the frequency if they can't add buses. Here in Mississauga, we have seen reduced a lot of reduced frequency due to slower speed of buses, and no buses have been taken away. In fact, MT often adds an extra bus to maintain the frequencies.

YRT is talking about something different though. They are actually saying that they are taking buses away to improve service and reliabilty (rather than merely reducing frequencies slightly while keeping the same amount of buses). There is no evidence to suggest that reducing the amount of buses on a route will allow its buses to better maintain their schedules, or any evidence to suggest that empty buses have a harder time meeting schedules than full buses. In fact, it's all the opposite: fewer buses and more packed buses are more unreliable.

Somehow I am suddenly reminded of 1984. This is pure propaganda. Aren't these sort of blatant attempts to dupe and mislead people illegal?

 

[Paleo]

Reducing frequency from 30 min to 45 min, 60 min to 90 min is a pure cut to save on operating and capital costs. It even says so in the text. Very much like the Ford's calling outright cuts "efficiencies" or "service changes". Only the most gullible and those who are already drafted for the war against transit would buy this.

Yet somehow York wants to argue that it needs two subway lines. (2,200pph in the 2031 forecast for TYSSE!)

 

[W. K. Lis]

Reducing frequency will also mean more the bus could be stopping more often, instead of skipping a now empty stop. Could also slow it down as more time is spent at a stop for boarding and egressing, at stops with more people.

 

[taal]

Very chicken and the egg ... there aren't people so reduce service ...

Wow they have guts though ... at least here we admit they're cuts, in York region ... they are planning for the future

 

[Woodbridge_Heights]

I figured this would eventually happen. They upped frequencies and service in parallel with the launch of VIVA, then cut service a few years later.

For example. They also advertise that some percentage (90%) of the region or population is within 500 m of a bus stop. Well I know that my nearest stop is just shy of 2 km away from me, unless you count the peak period stop that has service only twice in the morning and twice in the evening and neither early enough to get me anyway in time for a job.

 

[andrewpmk]

I figured this would eventually happen. They upped frequencies and service in parallel with the launch of VIVA, then cut service a few years later.

For example. They also advertise that some percentage (90%) of the region or population is within 500 m of a bus stop. Well I know that my nearest stop is just shy of 2 km away from me, unless you count the peak period stop that has service only twice in the morning and twice in the evening and neither early enough to get me anyway in time for a job.

Being on strike for almost 3 months, and cutting frequencies to 45 minutes is going to totally destroy ridership. It's getting to the point that people will forget that York Region ever had a transit system at all. Everyone who has a driver's license and can afford a car has probably bought one already, in 5 months everyone who applied for a learner's permit when the strike started will be getting their G2 and buying cars. YRT is getting to be the worst transit system in the GTA, except maybe for Oakville/Burlington/Milton and Durham Region but only by a very tiny margin. Mississauga and especially Brampton are way way better than YRT.

What really bugs me is that YRT is spending over 1 billion dollars on dedicated bus lanes, billions on a subway extension to a big box shopping complex at Jane and Highway 7 and asking for billions more for a subway to another big box shopping complex at Yonge and Highway 7, yet the buses have been on strike for almost 3 months and the non-VIVA feeder bus service is c**p. Funding for big capital projects must be conditional on committing to offer frequent (e.g. 15 minute) all day 7 day a week service on major arterial roads (like Bayview, 16th, Major Mackenzie, Leslie, Jane), because without this the transit system is basically unusable for the vast majority of people. YRT is a joke, you cannot live without a car in York Region, unless you want to take a bus, spend 45 minutes freezing your a** off at some desolate street corner, and take another bus in order to get where you want to go, and that's when the buses are not on strike.

 

[doady]

15 minute frequency is quite difficult to acheive on Sundays for any corridor in the 905. Even Hurontario had 20 minute Sunday frequency until 1-2 years ago.

I think the stagnation of transit in York Region is largely due to VIVA, rather than just due to lack of political will.

Does VIVA Orange really need 15 minute frequency all day, 7 days a week? With Zum, that's 7.5 minute Sunday service combine - higher Sunday frequency than Yonge, Hurontario, Dundas, Queen, etc. I think resources are not being allocated effectively. Remember VIVA Green started out with 15 minute service 7 days a week too...

VIVA is/was not only expensive, but the concept of it is misguided. Concentrating on marketing instead of actual improvements didn't work, so ridership simply didn't meet their expectations.

In 2004 they had 13.8 million riders, and 15.4 million in 2005. VIVA was introduced in late 2005, and so they expected ridership to skyrocket to over 19 million riders for 2006. Didn't quite get there. Ridership in 2006 ended up only at 17.1 million in 2006. I guess 1.7 million increase over the previous year might still seem impressive, if you don't consider the ridership that transferred from GO's Newmarket 'B' bus to VIVA Blue. The annual ridership didn't reach 19 million until 2010, four years late.

I think that goes a long way in explaining why York Region is cutting so much service. When ridership doesn't meet expectations, with growth comparable to or worse than Brampton and Mississauga, they have to make up for the loss somehow, and they will concentrate the cuts on the non-VIVA routes, even though VIVA is arguably to blame.

 

[andrewpmk]

15 minute frequency is quite difficult to acheive on Sundays for any corridor in the 905. Even Hurontario had 20 minute Sunday frequency until 1-2 years ago.

I think the stagnation of transit in York Region is largely due to VIVA, rather than just due to lack of political will.

Does VIVA Orange really need 15 minute frequency all day, 7 days a week? With Zum, that's 7.5 minute Sunday service combine - higher Sunday frequency than Yonge, Hurontario, Dundas, Queen, etc. I think resources are not being allocated effectively. Remember VIVA Green started out with 15 minute service 7 days a week too...

VIVA is/was not only expensive, but the concept of it is misguided. Concentrating on marketing instead of actual improvements didn't work, so ridership simply didn't meet their expectations.

In 2004 they had 13.8 million riders, and 15.4 million in 2005. VIVA was introduced in late 2005, and so they expected ridership to skyrocket to over 19 million riders for 2006. Didn't quite get there. Ridership in 2006 ended up only at 17.1 million in 2006. I guess 1.7 million increase over the previous year might still seem impressive, if you don't consider the ridership that transferred from GO's Newmarket 'B' bus to VIVA Blue. The annual ridership didn't reach 19 million until 2010, four years late.

I think that goes a long way in explaining why York Region is cutting so much service. When ridership doesn't meet expectations, with growth comparable to or worse than Brampton and Mississauga, they have to make up for the loss somehow, and they will concentrate the cuts on the non-VIVA routes, even though VIVA is arguably to blame.

Brampton Transit might not have 15 minute all day 7 day a week service on most routes, but all the busier routes seem to be at least 20 minutes midday and 30 minutes evenings/weekends. Also they have been improving service much more rapidly than YRT. Finally they have not being spending billions of dollars on bus lanes and billions of dollars on expensive subway extensions. There is no excuse for having buses run every 60 minutes on Sunday if you are spending billions on expensive capital projects, for that money would have been much better spent on buying buses and hiring bus drivers instead.

I agree with you about VIVA Orange, this service should just be cancelled and a long term agreement should be signed with BT to pay for operating their service in York Region. VIVA Green should be made an all-day service, but would probably be best renumbered as a YRT service because it is not important enough to merit VIVA service. Aside from that, there needs to be a program to improve service on major grid routes (obvious candidates: 4, 8, 20, 85, 88, 90, 91 and some of the busier TTC routes in York Region), if not to 15 minute service then at least to the same level as Brampton Transit. Finally invest in some better bus shelters at main transfer points between VIVA and YRT routes such as Leslie/Hwy 7. There are far too many places in York Region where you have to wait a long time to change buses in isolated areas in the freezing cold, this is one advantage of Mississauga Transit (where most transfers occur at Square One) and Brampton Transit (which opened a new terminal at Bramalea recently). Finally, there needs to a be a strike ban for 905 transit agencies like there is for the TTC. When there is a bus strike for almost 3 months, when major employment areas like Leslie/Hwy 7 lose all bus service entirely and transit users are forced to walk long distances in the freezing cold, people will buy cars and drive them.

 

[Electrify]

Being on strike for almost 3 months, and cutting frequencies to 45 minutes is going to totally destroy ridership. It's getting to the point that people will forget that York Region ever had a transit system at all. Everyone who has a driver's license and can afford a car has probably bought one already, in 5 months everyone who applied for a learner's permit when the strike started will be getting their G2 and buying cars. YRT is getting to be the worst transit system in the GTA, except maybe for Oakville/Burlington/Milton and Durham Region but only by a very tiny margin. Mississauga and especially Brampton are way way better than YRT.

What really bugs me is that YRT is spending over 1 billion dollars on dedicated bus lanes, billions on a subway extension to a big box shopping complex at Jane and Highway 7 and asking for billions more for a subway to another big box shopping complex at Yonge and Highway 7, yet the buses have been on strike for almost 3 months and the non-VIVA feeder bus service is c**p. Funding for big capital projects must be conditional on committing to offer frequent (e.g. 15 minute) all day 7 day a week service on major arterial roads (like Bayview, 16th, Major Mackenzie, Leslie, Jane), because without this the transit system is basically unusable for the vast majority of people. YRT is a joke, you cannot live without a car in York Region, unless you want to take a bus, spend 45 minutes freezing your a** off at some desolate street corner, and take another bus in order to get where you want to go, and that's when the buses are not on strike.

You also forgot about the fare increase introduced January 1st...

About half a year ago, it seemed that YRT was actually on the right track. We got new Viva and local buses, Presto was fully implemented, construction was well underway for bus ROWs, and there was talk about streamlining local routes to make them more usable (even if it meant that some people would have to walk further to reach them).

Fast forward to today. The majority of service is on strike, the service that is still running now enjoys higher fares, and frequencies are being reduced on major and local routes to the point of being nearly unusable. Meanwhile the region wants its cake and to eat it too: they want to turn major transport corridors into destinations rather than places to travel through by increasing densities, reducing speed limits, and improving public transit - whatever that means.

Side topic: If you are going for your road test, I would avoid the DriveTest location in Aurora like the plague. I lent my car to a friend for him to take it, and they failed him for NOT running a yellow light!!!

 

[Woodbridge_Heights]

Comments on VIVA orange. I still think VIVA Orange serves a ridership group that is different from Zum even if the run parallel to each other. As evidenced by Zum operating some buses on the 407 as an 'express' route to York U. Keep in mind that Zum does not serve Downsview station, which is a major destination point for riders who are heading downtown.

What I suggest is eliminating or shortening rte 77 which duplicates much of Zum/VIVA's routes and is handicapped somewhat by it's new western terminus at hwy 50. Given the level of service provided by Zum/VIVA and provided ridership has shifted as I would expect (i.e. fewer riders crossing through the region bound for Finch Station). I'd cut it out or shorten it to terminate at the VMC site around Jane so that a connection could be made with VIA/Zum. This would lesson the number of buses (or eliminate completely) needed and cut costs.

Also I feel that VIVA suffers because it is not treated like it should be as a trunk route that the rest of the system is built around. Keep frequencies high on VIVA and more riders will be attracted to the other routes. For example routes like 10 or 20 or 3 that currently serve York U but are very close to other VIVA services should be cut or rerouted to serve the trunk VIVA routes rather than serve right into York. I know this may not be popular with some but I think people would be more accepting of this kind of service cut sold as a "service improvement" rather than cutting service frequencies just so that they can squeeze an extra few riders onto every bus and save on operator salary and bus maintenance.

 

[RedRocket191]

Comments on VIVA orange. I still think VIVA Orange serves a ridership group that is different from Zum even if the run parallel to each other. As evidenced by Zum operating some buses on the 407 as an 'express' route to York U. Keep in mind that Zum does not serve Downsview station, which is a major destination point for riders who are heading downtown.

From the perspective of someone standing at Islington and 7 and wanting to head to York University, Zum and VIVA both serve the same ridership group - though some people may have a preference for one over the other.

Someone wanting to go to Brampton is in a very different ridership group than someone wanting to go to Vaughan, but for the portion of the route that overlaps (which is a lot), the group is the same.

I think it all depends on how we're defining the ridership group.

 

[accura407]

So here is the simple answer

York Region pays Brampton Transit 100% of the cost of running the route from York U to Downsview. Then for the rest of the route, maybe a smaller cost-sharing agreement.

I am sure that is way cheaper than running VIVA Orange...with its Martin Grove terminus is quite useless...

Ever since the launch of Zum, VIVA has become quite useless...I have the choice to take either or when I board at Ansley Grove but really...do we need 3 different buses on Highway 7 especially if two of them duplicate the exact same service?

If there was ever 'gravy' this would be it...

 

[RedRocket191]

So here is the simple answer

York Region pays Brampton Transit 100% of the cost of running the route from York U to Downsview. Then for the rest of the route, maybe a smaller cost-sharing agreement.

I am sure that is way cheaper than running VIVA Orange...with its Martin Grove terminus is quite useless...

Ever since the launch of Zum, VIVA has become quite useless...I have the choice to take either or when I board at Ansley Grove but really...do we need 3 different buses on Highway 7 especially if two of them duplicate the exact same service?

If there was ever 'gravy' this would be it...

A good long term solution, but Brampton doesn't have enough buses to extend the route and maintain the same frequencies in the short term.

 

[JoeParez]

I believe VIVA Orange is going to be eliminated once the subway opens and then replaces with a full length VIVA Purple route.

According to Wikipedia:

In the future (2015), as the Vaughan North-South Link transit corridor, the Viva Orange line will be replaced by a subway line on the portion of the route from York University to Downsview Station, as part of the Toronto Transit Commission's Spadina subway extension, and by Viva Purple along the Highway 7 portion of the route, eliminating a transfer for east-west travellers. Eventually, the entire transitway (i.e., Highway 7) portion of the route could be upgraded to allow light rail transit on this corridor.