[APTA-2048]

I think the Novas will be used primarily on the Purple route. Someone mentioned in another thread that Novas are rear-wheel drive while the Van Hools are front-wheel drive, which means the latter can handle hills better. Thus the Novas would be able to handle smooth terrain of the Purple line over the steep hills along the Blue line.

Apparently the Novas will be used on Blue. Puller-type artics may have an advantage, but it seems very slight. Over the winters the Van Hools have been running, there have been reports of them having difficulty in the snow. Some have had trouble on the big hills and some have had other traction issues. It seems no type of artic is really immune during bad weather.

 

[xtremesniper]

hmm, I've never noticed anything resembling overcrowding of the purple or pink routes during rush hour (or otherwise) and I'm on them 5 days a week (this is east of Yonge ... not sure about west). There are some expections i.e. when a viva pink / purple comes late.

I don't know, maybe they've improved things since I used to ride the Purple, but there used to be massive cramming every morning during rush hour, and very often in the afternoon coming back home as well. Do you ride the part of the route that goes to York U? That's really the only excessively busy part at this point: from York to Richmond Hill Centre.

People would be left behind at each stop (ala TTC Yonge line) because there simply is not enough space on the bus, and I wrote to YRT numerous times to get them to throw in an empty bus from Richmond Hill Centre when they saw overcrowding, which they eventually started doing... But it was so inconsistent in execution that sometimes it worked, sometimes it was a waste.

 

[taal]

I don't know, maybe they've improved things since I used to ride the Purple, but there used to be massive cramming every morning during rush hour, and very often in the afternoon coming back home as well. Do you ride the part of the route that goes to York U? That's really the only excessively busy part at this point: from York to Richmond Hill Centre.

People would be left behind at each stop (ala TTC Yonge line) because there simply is not enough space on the bus, and I wrote to YRT numerous times to get them to throw in an empty bus from Richmond Hill Centre when they saw overcrowding, which they eventually started doing... But it was so inconsistent in execution that sometimes it worked, sometimes it was a waste.

Nope, as per the post above I'm only referring to the east side of Yonge, where there's absolutely no evidence of cramming - at least from what I can tell. Also, off peek - particularly on weekends, it's barely used - I question the 10/15min ? service is even merited - over the long term I'm sure it will be. It's possible the west side is a completely different animal.

 

[xtremesniper]

Nope, as per the post above I'm only referring to the east side of Yonge, where there's absolutely no evidence of cramming - at least from what I can tell. Also, off peek - particularly on weekends, it's barely used - I question the 10/15min ? service is even merited - over the long term I'm sure it will be. It's possible the west side is a completely different animal.

Ah yes, the east side of Yonge is still being developed and is basically a pick up (on the way West) and drop off (on the way East) part of the route for all the York U students. Until the Downtown Markham area gets built up, Purple is really only particularly useful for getting York students to their classes... and to get old people to the asian strip malls at Leslie/West Beaver Creek.

The only way to get people to want to take the bus is to keep "frequent" service. Anything less frequent than 15 minutes and you have condemned that route to never live up to its potential, now or in the future. People will only think of it as a feasible alternative to the car if they don't have to wait longer than 10 minutes. Only students and seniors put up with anything longer because most of the time they have no choice.

 

[taal]

Ah yes, the east side of Yonge is still being developed and is basically a pick up (on the way West) and drop off (on the way East) part of the route for all the York U students. Until the Downtown Markham area gets built up, Purple is really only particularly useful for getting York students to their classes... and to get old people to the asian strip malls at Leslie/West Beaver Creek.

The only way to get people to want to take the bus is to keep "frequent" service. Anything less frequent than 15 minutes and you have condemned that route to never live up to its potential, now or in the future. People will only think of it as a feasible alternative to the car if they don't have to wait longer than 10 minutes. Only students and seniors put up with anything longer because most of the time they have no choice.

hmm, that's the odd part to me - the east side of Hi-way 7 - once you pass Bayview, is much more developed then the west side! Less Promenade maybe ...
There are so many offices on hi-way 7 between Bayview -> Warden so you'd think it'd be a much larger draw.

I think the key is York University.

 

[xtremesniper]

hmm, that's the odd part to me - the east side of Hi-way 7 - once you pass Bayview, is much more developed then the west side! Less Promenade maybe ...
There are so many offices on hi-way 7 between Bayview -> Warden so you'd think it'd be a much larger draw.

I think the key is York University.

You're right. Theoretically, the East is more built up... But the problem with Highway 7 is that barely anyone actually lives within comfortable walking distance to it, so the Viva relies heavily on feeder routes to bring people in from residential areas down to Hwy 7. Problem is, everyone is just way too accustomed to driving everywhere (especially since the feeder routes are not that good). So most people actually end up on Purple because of Richmond Hill Centre (being a terminal, and all) or being dropped off at one of the stops along the way via a car to continue on their way on Viva.

For the longest time, I would be dropped off at Hwy 7 so I could bus to York from there since the north/south route wasn't frequent or reliable enough to get me there on time. Then I started to take a weird approach, which involves bussing west to Yonge, south on Yonge to RHC, and then continuing on Purple from there... But at that point the route is so jam packed that I'd often miss a bus because I couldn't get on.

It's frustrating, and it's one of the sole reasons why they're having a hard time convincing more people to leave their cars at home.

 

[Electrify]

Last night I saw a Nova bus... on the 98 Yonge (North) route! It was YRT branded and short (30ft?), but it sure did look nice!

Still haven't seen any on the Viva lines though.

 

[taal]

Last night I saw a Nova bus... on the 98 Yonge (North) route! It was YRT branded and short (30ft?), but it sure did look nice!

Still haven't seen any on the Viva lines though.

I think I went on one of these new buses (on the 300 express) ... other then looking a little better on the outside I perfer the seats in the old busses, they're a lot more comfortable! I also thought it was a little to bright in the interior at night time.

 

[canarob]

You're right. Theoretically, the East is more built up... But the problem with Highway 7 is that barely anyone actually lives within comfortable walking distance to it, so the Viva relies heavily on feeder routes to bring people in from residential areas down to Hwy 7.

A lot of people east of McCowan can walk to highway 7, but we get no Green (or pink) VIVA service without transfering, so it's a hassle if you want to commute anywhere that's not right on Highway 7 (e.g., York U or the 404 office parks). Also, when is the Cornell terminal ever going to be built? I really think that the east end of Markham has been ignored for too long by YRT. I pretty much only use GO now.

 

[APTA-2048]

Last night I saw a Nova bus... on the 98 Yonge (North) route! It was YRT branded and short (30ft?), but it sure did look nice!

Still haven't seen any on the Viva lines though.

I'm guessing you saw one of these:


Trans-Expo 2010 Vancouver by Flyer E901, on Flickr

These are the same type of 30' ElDorado buses YRT already uses, but with a "BRT"-styled front.

 

[taal]

I'm guessing you saw one of these:


These are the same type of 30' ElDorado buses YRT already uses, but with a "BRT"-styled front.

Ah, that's what I saw / used.

 

[reaperexpress]

I'm surprised that they would run 30ft buses on the Expresses. I would have thought that they'd run 40ft buses like the D40LFR.

Pic from R.Flores' Flickr.

 

[taal]

I'm surprised that they would run 30ft buses on the Expresses. I would have thought that they'd run 40ft buses like the D40LFR.

Pic from R.Flores' Flickr.

Was only once on one of the earlier runs ... the 300 generally get's full on the 2 main runs (4:55 / 5:20) leaving IBM ... but any of the ones before and after don't fill up too much.

 

[TJ O'Pootertoot]

I'm guessing you saw one of these:

...
These are the same type of 30' ElDorado buses YRT already uses, but with a "BRT"-styled front.

Thanks for clearing that up. I was wondering, since my impression was that the Novas are only for Viva. Seemed weird YRT would have them too.

 

[Electrify]

For the record, Novas are also used on regular Brampton Transit and Durham Region Transit routes, they don't make BRT buses exclusively. With that said, imo their buses just look so hot (the angling on the windshield and LED cover looks really sharp).

But yeah, thanks for clearing it up APTA. I was trying to find a manufacture badge, but it was dark out. I just assumed it was a Nova because the front end looked very much like their buses.