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Markham VivaNext System
#1
I was on Highway 7 in Markham yesterday and the road is a mess with them building the VivaNext system.    I though it was an LRT system then noticed it uses dedicated bus lanes with stations.   Would this be a Rapid Bus System?    I wonder why they went this direction and not with an LRT system.     

 
http://www.vivanext.com/

Blush
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#2
Looks like it could be similar to Ottawa's current BRT system. My guess is they decided that given transit usage there LRT wasn't worth the money.
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#3
(10-26-2014, 10:46 AM)rickhd Wrote: I was on Highway 7 in Markham yesterday and the road is a mess with them building the VivaNext system.    I though it was an LRT system then noticed it uses dedicated bus lanes with stations.   Would this be a Rapid Bus System?    I wonder why they went this direction and not with an LRT system.     

 
http://www.vivanext.com/

Blush

This will allow them to convert to LRT without totally rebuilding a BRT and an LRT. They can also connect this by building out, east-west or west-east from the Yonge Street/BRT foci right of way.

Secondly there is no clearly defined city that this rapid transit could or would run through because of the urban sprawl development model York Region has used over the last 40 years.
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#4
(10-26-2014, 11:35 AM)Spokes Wrote: Looks like it could be similar to Ottawa's current BRT system.  My guess is they decided that given transit usage there LRT wasn't worth the money.

It's not much like Ottawa's system at all, actually!

Yes, VIVA is building a BRT corridor along Highway 7, but the differences are significant.
York region considered LRT, but decided that BRT would be more cost efficient.  They have a lot of kilometres to cover, and have focused on making sure they can afford to build it out. Highway 7 has been getting very congested, so something had to be built, but they've been struggling with ensuring strong ridership in a traditionally car-centric region of the GTA.  They've made the hard choice of going with BRT to ensure that there is rapid transit, while dealing with the realities of budget and ridership.

Comparing it to Ottawa, they each have pieces of of the BRT puzzle, but each focuses on different things:
Ottawa's BRT is largely grade separated, except at the periphery, and a few blocks downtown. VIVA's is just a centre median corridor, without any grade separation.
Ottawa's frequently has stops at bus-malls, where multiple routes hub-and-spoke from. VIVA's is more about providing an excellent (future-proofed) service along Highway 7, instead of having routes converging on hubs.
VIVA has off-board fare payment quite universally. Ottawa still requires anyone without at pass to enter at the front door to pay.
All-door loading is only used in Ottawa at rush hours, in busy locations.  I'm not sure of VIVA's policy on that.
VIVA's buses sure look a lot more swank than Ottawa's!
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#5
Ahh you're right, I didn't realize how different they actually were once you looked closer. Thanks for the details!
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#6
I've driven past it recently a few times, and think it looks fantastic. If you're going to do BRT, that's the way to do it! Those stations are epic.
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#7
This is similar to the model that I had hoped for the regions plan since they started debating rapid transit for the region.
To have a dedicated transit-way from start to finish, this way when ridership permits the conversation from BRT to LRT is a lot simpler and less disruptive to the general public and local businesses.
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#8
Agreed; our "aBRT" is a long way off from what exists in Markham. I fear that many here will say "it's iXpress with nicer looking stops". Which, to be honest, is really what it is.
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#9
Which will go a long way towards persuading Cambridge transit skeptics of ION's merits...
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#10
Not to be pessimistic, but I don't think it will.

What I mean is - while I appreciate that the effort is there to try and market it as BRT, it's not really BRT in the accepted definition. Cambridge has long been saying "we're just getting buses" because it isn't really BRT. If it was (dedicated lanes, advance signal activation on approach, offline fare colection*), they might say "Oh... this is better than a regular Bus, we get it."

* - Is that happening? It's never really been clear to me if this is part of "Phase 1" or not. If it is, it will be a neat preview of how it will eventually work on the LRT segment.
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#11
(11-30-2014, 04:03 PM)Canard Wrote: Cambridge has long been saying "we're just getting buses" because it isn't really BRT.  If it was (dedicated lanes, advance signal activation on approach, offline fare colection*), they might say "Oh... this is better than a regular Bus, we get it."


Aren't they getting dedicated lanes on the highway which is where it matters most? Will they not be part of the pass system either?
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#12
In several years, when the widening to 10 lanes occurs.  Right now there are a few sections on Hwy 8 between Sportsworld and Fairway that they can use the shoulder, but as a daily commuter in these sections I've yet to see a bus actually use any of these. The shoulders are littered with debris and gravel so I am doubtful they have ever been used (they would have to be cleaned up first before any vehicle would be allowed to traverse them at speed).

The bypass features in Cambridge are limited to 3 places on Hwy 24, where the right turn lane is being designated as a bus "queue-jump", so if an ION aBRT bus stops at that red light and can make it to the right lane, and nobody is in front of them, they'll be permitted to enter the intersection before other traffic  (I imagine they'll need a separate light to do this; none of that hardware has been installed yet).
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