[Electrify]

Nearly $4 per ride? That's insane...

For clarification, that is the two zone fare. Single zone fares will be $3.75 cash, and $3 with tickets when purchased in bulks of 10 ($30) or Presto. Two zone fares will be $4.75 and $4/$40 respectively.

But yes, still insane.

 

[BMO]

These busways better be flipping brilliant when they're completed...

 

[Platform 27]

These busways better be flipping brilliant when they're completed...

Brilliant or not, they're not being paid for by fares.

And, um this needs to be pointed out:

The fares remain in line with the GTA average, [Leary] said.

50 cents higher than the next highest in the GTA is not "in line with the average". Granted, one or more of the agencies in the $3.25 club could conceivably go up to $3.50 later this year, but still...

 

[Electrify]

On the plus side, since YRT is contracted out to Veolia, a French crown corporation, by paying the highest fares in the region we are doing our part to help combat the Euro-crisis :/

 

[Chuck]

VIVA is a necessity to link all parts of the region together as a backbone, not to mention it's densist parts are in direct competition with TTC service, and there is a certain extent to which it is definitely much more appealing to drive to a TTC subway station and then take it down instead of waiting 30 minutes for a bus to take 5km to the station.

The proximity to the TTC has a huge impact on ridership south of highway 7. Stand at any major cross street along Steeles, and you'll see a steady flow of people getting dropped off from points north. I used to do this myself, and found that the majority of people boarding at the stop I was dropped off at (Bayview) had gotten out of a southound car as well. Those rides take away from ridership on north-south routes in York Region.

I'd love for a survey to be created regarding the transportation habits of people who live within 500 metres north of Steeles. In built form, this area is no different from the rest of York Region, except that it is within walking distance of one of the best served TTC routes in the city. With transit fares about 50-60% lower than the rest of York Region and frequencies comparable to any downtown streetcar route, I bet transit usage is massive. You would save nearly $1,500 per year by walking a little farther to Steeles and cutting YRT out of your trip.

Let that be a lesson to transit planners responsible for the growth of YRT, as well as anyone who says the 905 is hostile to transit. 53 Steeles East has no major nodes like York University and carries I think 30,000+ riders a day. If half live on the north side of Steeles, that makes its ridership comparable to viva blue. You might say that Steeles is the nearly the busiest bus route in York Region, even though it's operated by the TTC.

 

[TJ O'Pootertoot]

I'd love for a survey to be created regarding the transportation habits of people who live within 500 metres north of Steeles. In built form, this area is no different from the rest of York Region, except that it is within walking distance of one of the best served TTC routes in the city. With transit fares about 50-60% lower than the rest of York Region and frequencies comparable to any downtown streetcar route, I bet transit usage is massive. You would save nearly $1,500 per year by walking a little farther to Steeles and cutting YRT out of your trip.

I like to imagine those numbers are sitting somewhere in a dusty TTC file cabinet, never to be opened.

I think such survey data would indisputably prove the need for major fare reform, for starters. If people (especially in the 416) want to harp on forever about what their property taxes pay for etc., that's just peachy. But anyone who wants to sincerely start looking at how to get suburbanites on transit, how to reduce 'gridlock,' and what low-hanging fruit there are for streamlining transit as a REGIONAL concept (instead of just being about how to get 416ers around, while also grudgingly allowing 905ers to get to/from work), the Yonge-Steeles intersection is a good place to spend a day.

Count the hundreds of buses going by, watch the YRT/VIVA buses not pick up Torontonians even though they're all trying to get to Finch, see the number of people finding ways to dodge the double fare (by getting dropped off, walking or driving to Finch) and you will see a problem that should be Job One for Metrolinx after they finally implement some kind of regional investment strategy, and have Presto fully online.

It's not just that it's costing YRT money or even skewing their ridership numbers. It's that the whole setup is antithetical to fostering a transit culture and all the good stuff that comes with doing so successfully.

 

[ShonTron]

More service cuts are coming to YRT/Viva:

YRT plans to slash GO, school shuttles

Excerpts:

By L.H. Tiffany Hsieh

Eight GO shuttles and high school special bus routes in York Region could be axed if regional council endorses the YRT/Viva 2013 annual service plan Sept. 20.

A total of 41 routes have been identified for restructuring, schedule adjustments and elimination of duplicate or overlapping service.
More than 20 routes are proposed for some form of decreased service, be it reduced hours or discontinuation.
Recommendations outlined in the service plan, which include two new routes, are estimated to save $2 million in 2013.
Proposed changes will affect school specials, GO shuttles, contracted TTC routes operating north of Steeles Avenue and YRT routes with low ridership.
...
The changes would be implemented in April.

Among the changes is the discontinuation of Viva Orange between York U and Downsview outside of rush hours.

The recommendations are here:
http://www.york.ca/Regional+Government/Agendas+Minutes+and+Reports/_2012/TSC+7-2-1.htm

 

[ShonTron]

I don't think you get what I said. ShonTron said Major Mack would be the best option for a Viva route because it would serve Maple (meaning the Major Mack/Keele area) There's nothing special about that area for transit service that I can see. The "Maple" you described is just a large chunk of Vaughan.

In case you don't get it, "Maple" - being Keele and Major Mack - has the Vaughan Civic Centre, the Maple GO Station, and is actually Maple, the original village that the suburbs surrounded.

 

[Electrify]

Two things I noticed in their tech improvements PDF (http://www.york.ca/NR/rdonlyres/fjo...3qobcw2tfnkba4lh/sep+5+service+att+1+pt+5.pdf)

The good: Having real time departures included with Google Maps. Seeing as there are no apps (that I know of) which provide this information, it would be great to get this info from Google than having to email ridenow@york.ca. Would be great if this tech finds its way to the TTC, but seeing as the community has created a wide range of apps and websites which do the same thing, I'll give them a pass if they don't implement it... this time.

The bad: They are getting rid of tickets in favour of Presto. However, you will still be able to get them for use on TTC buses... which raises an important question: What if you need to transfer from a YRT bus to a TTC bus, and the YRT bus won't accept your tickets?!? As the date approaches, hopefully they will reveal some kind of strategy for this predicament, otherwise things will look to get ugly...

 

[ShonTron]

The bad: They are getting rid of tickets in favour of Presto. However, you will still be able to get them for use on TTC buses... which raises an important question: What if you need to transfer from a YRT bus to a TTC bus, and the YRT bus won't accept your tickets?!? As the date approaches, hopefully they will reveal some kind of strategy for this predicament, otherwise things will look to get ugly...

Yeah, that's going to make things interesting. Brampton's going to stop selling tickets as of January 1, 2013, but accept them until further notice. Tickets currently more expensive ($2.75 each) than the $2.65 Presto deduction. I don't know how student and senior tickets will work. There are very few valid transfers to TTC routes from Brampton - the 58 in Malton from routes 5, 14 and 30, and YRT-contracted routes at Highway 7. But none quite work the other way around (being in Mississauga and York Region territory, you pay their fares disembarking).

Will it mean paying the record high cash fares (going to $3.75) in Ontario for non-pass holding YRT or 501 Zum customers to disembark from a TTC bus in York Region?

Pay more, get less!

 

[Transportfan]

In case you don't get it, "Maple" - being Keele and Major Mack - has the Vaughan Civic Centre, the Maple GO Station, and is actually Maple, the original village that the suburbs surrounded.

But there is no real "village" anymore here than there is for Downsview. This sounds like just another case of 905 nomenclature--aka, discohesion in 905 municipalities.

 

[Electrify]

But there is no real "village" anymore here than there is for Downsview. This sounds like just another case of 905 nomenclature--aka, discohesion in 905 municipalities.

Look up the intersection if Major Mackenzie and Keele on Google Street View. It's small, but it is there. And unlike Downsview, it wasn't leveled to make way for a grocery store parking lot.

 

[futureurbanplanner]

More service cuts are coming to YRT/Viva:

YRT plans to slash GO, school shuttles

Excerpts:

Among the changes is the discontinuation of Viva Orange between York U and Downsview outside of rush hours.

The recommendations are here:
http://www.york.ca/Regional+Government/Agendas+Minutes+and+Reports/_2012/TSC+7-2-1.htm

In case you missed it, I summarized all of the changes in a post you can find here: http://urbantoronto.ca/forum/showthread.php/7055-York-Region-Transit-Viva-general-thread?p=666259#post666259

 

[cplchanb]

Two things I noticed in their tech improvements PDF (http://www.york.ca/NR/rdonlyres/fjo...3qobcw2tfnkba4lh/sep+5+service+att+1+pt+5.pdf)

The bad: They are getting rid of tickets in favour of Presto. However, you will still be able to get them for use on TTC buses... which raises an important question: What if you need to transfer from a YRT bus to a TTC bus, and the YRT bus won't accept your tickets?!? As the date approaches, hopefully they will reveal some kind of strategy for this predicament, otherwise things will look to get ugly...

if only presto was as convenient as hong kong's octopus card.... gta's TAs would be in a much better place....

 

[nfitz]

if only presto was as convenient as hong kong's octopus card.... gta's TAs would be in a much better place....

I don't see any reason it won't be, once it's fully rolled-out.