Jump to content

Viva Purple

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Hum1969 (talk | contribs) at 00:51, 7 August 2014 (On weekdays, 40ft buses still serve Viva purple, even during rush hours.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Viva Purple
Overview
SystemYRT/Viva 1system
OperatorVeolia Transportation
StatusPhase 1
Began serviceSeptember 4, 2005.
Route
LocaleYork Region, Ontario
(Vaughan; Richmond Hill; Markham)
Toronto (North York)
StartYork University
EndMarkham Stouffville Hospital
Stations23
← {{{previous_line}}}  {{{system_nav}}}  {{{next_line}}} →

Viva Purple is a line on the Viva bus rapid transit system in York Region, north of Toronto, Canada. It is operated by Veolia Transportation under contract from the Region of York.

Route description

There are twenty-four stations on the Viva Purple line

The Viva purple line runs along primarily the Highway 7 corridor east of Keele Street, with the brief exception on Centre Street and on Bathurst Street. The Highway 7 corridor west of Keele Street is served by Viva Orange. Viva Purple connects with all other Viva lines except Viva Blue A. As of August 2014, 40ft VanHool A330 buses still serve this route during weekdays, even during rush hours (unlike Viva Blue which is now served by 60ft articulated buses only). On weekends, only 40ft and rarely 60ft serve this route.

Cornell Terminal

Since January 27, 2008, the Viva Purple Line has been extended eastward to Markham Stouffville Hospital from the previous line terminus, which was McCowan. This extension involved adding three more stations in the line. Markham Stouffville Hospital currently acts as a temporary bus terminal for several YRT bus routes, including Viva. This bus terminal will be moved to the intersection of Donald Cousens Way and Highway 7 sometime within the next ten years. Hence, the end point of Viva purple will also be moved there, and the current Markham Stouffville Hospital Stop will be "skipped". This scheduled terminal is named as Cornell, and it is expected to open in 2016.

List of stations

A Viva Purple bus stops at the Richmond Hill Centre Terminal.

From west to east:

Name Opening Date Municipality Major Connections
York University September 4, 2005 North York Viva Orange
Keele September 4, 2005 Vaughan
Dufferin September 4, 2005 Vaughan
Promenade Terminal September 4, 2005 Vaughan
Atkinson September 4, 2005 Vaughan
Bathurst TBA Vaughan
Hunter's Point TBA Vaughan
Richmond Hill Centre September 4, 2005 Richmond Hill Viva Blue, Viva Pink, GO Transit (Langstaff)
Silver Linden TBA Markham/Richmond Hill Viva Pink
Bayview September 4, 2005 Markham/Richmond Hill Viva Pink
Chalmers August 19, 2013 Markham/Richmond Hill Viva Pink
Valleymede September 4, 2005 Markham/Richmond Hill Viva Pink
West Beaver Creek September 4, 2005 Markham/Richmond Hill Viva Pink
Leslie September 4, 2005 Markham/Richmond Hill Viva Pink
East Beaver Creek September 4, 2005 Markham/Richmond Hill Viva Pink
Allstate Parkway September 4, 2005 Markham Viva Pink
Woodbine September 4, 2005 Markham Viva Pink
Montgomery September 4, 2005 Markham Viva Pink
Town Centre Blvd. September 4, 2005 Markham Viva Pink
Cedarland Late 2014 Markham Viva Pink
Warden November 20, 2005 Markham Viva Green, Viva Pink
Enterprise November 20, 2005 Markham Viva Green, Viva Pink
Kennedy October 16, 2005 Markham Viva Green
Bullock October 16, 2005 Markham Viva Green
McCowan October 16, 2005 Markham Viva Green
Galsworthy September 5, 2010 Markham
Main St. Markham January 27, 2008 Markham
Wootten Way January 27, 2008 Markham
Markham Stouffville Hospital January 27, 2008 Markham
Cornell 2016 Markham
  • proposed Viva stations

Service from York University to Town Centre Boulevard began on September 4, 2005. Services extending from Town Centre Boulevard east to McCowan Road began October 16, 2005. Peak-time services west of York University began November 20, 2005. Services east of McCowan Road to Markham Stouffville Hospital was to begin on July 1, 2007, but has been postponed to January 27, 2008. Service east of McCowan Road to Cornell will replace the aforementioned service at a future date. Services west of York University was discontinued as of September 2, 2007.

VivaNext

Viva Purple using the new Warden Vivastation on the Enterprise Rapidway
Leslie Street Rapidway station under construction in May 2012
Rapidway stations feature heated shelters

Rapidways

As the Highway 7 transit corridor, the Viva Purple line will have a dedicated right of way dubbed "rapidway" for most of the route. This will enable Viva buses to quickly pass through traffic.

The first phase of VivaNext brings a rapidway along the portion of Viva Purple from Bayview to Birchmount.[1] The rapidway will consist of bus lanes in the median of Highway 7 between Bayview Avenue and Town Centre Boulevard, and a new bus-only road parallel to Enterprise Drive, between Warden and Birchmount, eventually extending to Kennedy in 2018.. Stations along the rapidway will be longer than existing stations, and include heated shelters protected from the elements. Later phases will extend the rapidway west to Highway 50 and east to Cornell Terminal, potentially to the Durham Region border at the York-Durham Line.

2014-2017 changes

Viva Purple will undergo many changes between 2014 and 2017. Beginning in 2014, VivaPurple and Pink will begin to serve the new Highway 7 Rapidway between Birchmount Road and Bayview Avenue. Also, Viva Purple will be restructured to provide service along Highway 7 between Town Centre Boulevard and Kennedy Road. Every other trip will continue to serve Enterprise Road. During rush hours, all trips will remain on Highway 7. Also, with the opening of the Spadina Subway extension, VIVA Purple will terminate at Richmond Hill Centre, where passengers can connect to Viva Orange for service to Vaughan Corporate Centre. New stations will also be opened at Chalmers (east of Bayview), Cedarland, Warden & 7, Village Parkway, and Schiberras/Main Street Unionville. Eventually, this corridor could be upgraded to light rail transit.

The stations of the restructured Viva Purple will be as follows, from west to east:

  • Richmond Hill Centre
  • Bayview
  • Chalmers Road/South Park Road
  • West Beaver Creek
  • Leslie
  • East Beaver Creek
  • Allstate Parkway
  • Woodbine
  • Montgomery
  • Town Centre
  • Cedarland
  • Warden
  • Enterprise
  • Warden & Highway 7 (Viva Purple A)
  • Village Parkway (Viva Purple A)
  • Main Street Unionville (Viva Purple A)
  • Kennedy
  • Bullock
  • McCowan
  • Galsworthy Drive
  • Main Street Markham
  • Wooten Way
  • Markham Stouffville Hospital
  • Bur Oak Drive
  • Cornell Terminal

Future Viva stations are in italics

Service frequency

As of February 24, 2013:

  • York University to Richmond Hill Centre: 7.5 minutes peak, 15 minutes off-peak. During the summer months when less courses run at York University service is 15 minutes at all times.
  • Richmond Hill Centre to Markham Stouffville Hospital: 15 minutes at all times.

However during rush hour the routes is interlined with other routes between RCH and McCowan resulting in higher average frequencies.

  • Richmond Hill Centre to Warden (combined with Viva Pink): 7.5 minutes
  • Warden to Enterprise (combined with Viva Green and Viva Pink): 4 minutes
  • Enterprise to McCowan (combined with Viva Green): 9 minutes

Travel times

As of February 24, 2013:

  • York University to Richmond Hill Centre: 33 minutes on peak periods, 28 minutes on off-peak periods
  • Richmond Hill Centre to Enterprise: 28 minutes on peak periods, 26 minutes on off-peak periods
  • Enterprise to McCowan: 13 minutes at all times.
  • McCowan to Markham-Stouffville Hospital: 11 minutes peak, 13 minutes off-peak

These results will vary depending on the traffic volume and weather.

Security and safety

YRT/Viva offers security, customer assistance and fare enforcement services through the YRT/Viva Transit Enforcement Team.[2]

Viva buses are patrolled by Special Constables that have been given the power of a Peace officer to enforce the Criminal Code of Canada. [3] Riders must present a valid proof-of-payment through a validated ticket or transfer from a YRT bus or purchased from the onsite-ticket machine. They can also enforce applicable York Region Municipal by-laws. They are given the power to issue offence notices, summonses or court appearance notices. They perform random checks and can issue violations, fines and warnings if the By-laws are not followed.

On site security is performed through the Transit Enforcement team. There are also technological securities such as security cameras and vehicle communication systems to create a safe environment.[4]

References

  1. ^ http://www.vivanext.com/rapidways
  2. ^ http://www.yrt.ca/en/aboutus/transitenforcement.asp
  3. ^ http://www.yrt.ca/en/aboutus/transitenforcement.asp
  4. ^ http://www.yrt.ca/en/ridingwithus/safetysecurity.asp

 

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Viva_Purple&oldid=620167927"