Questions
What is opening for service?
How many new stations are there?
Why are there partial rapidways on Bathurst, north of Flamingo Rd./ Worth Blvd. and on Centre under the Highway 407 overpass?
Why is there a vivastation on the Highway 7-Bathurst Connecting Road?
How are traffic patterns changing?
Will pedestrians be able to easily cross the street?
How do people get to the station in the centre of the road?
What happens in the event of an emergency on a vivastation platform?
How will drivers know which lanes to stay out of?
How will the rapidways be maintained?
Routes and Fares
What transit services and routes will use the new rapidway?
What changes will occur at the Promenade Terminal?
How frequent will service be?
How does fare pricing work when transferring between Viva, TTC and Züm?
How do I use PRESTO for my fare? And will I be able to reload my PRESTO card at the new bus terminal?
Can I pay my YRT fare without PRESTO? Can I use cash to buy a ticket?
Are there plans for fare integration between Viva and TTC?
How will Viva rapidway service differ from my curbside Viva service?
Why don’t local YRT routes use the rapidway?
Cycling
Where can pedestrians and cyclists travel along this section?
How are cyclists expected to make left turns across multiple lanes?
Vaughan Metropolitan Centre
Contacts
Answers
What is opening for service?
This new 5.5-kilometre stretch of the overall 12.6-km vivaNext rapidway project runs along the existing Viva route on Centre and Bathurst Streets to the Bathurst & Highway 7 Station. It adds new utility infrastructure, four new vivastations, wider sidewalks with new paver stones, newly planted trees and shrubbery, and raised bike lanes.
To the east, this segment connects to the 2.6-kilometre segment of rapidway on Highway 7 that opened three months ahead of schedule in September 2019; it extends from Bathurst Street to Richmond Hill Centre Terminal and includes the Bathurst & Highway 7 Station.
To the west, this segment connects to the completed 3.6-kilometre section of rapidway on Highway 7 that opened in 2017, from Bowes Road to Edgeley Boulevard in the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre, as well as the 4.5-kilometre section that opened in November 2019 on Highway 7 West, from Edgeley to Bruce Street.
How many new stations are there?
The Bathurst & Centre segment has five new stations:
- Dufferin Street
- Taiga Drive
- Disera-Promenade
- Atkinson Avenue
- Bathurst & Highway 7 Station [opened in September 2019]
Why are there partial rapidways on Bathurst, north of Flamingo Rd./ Worth Blvd. and on Centre under the Highway 407 overpass?
A partial rapidway refers to a dedicated bus rapid transit (BRT) lane in one direction, and is in place for several reasons, including property constraints, and conflicts with existing infrastructure, such as the bridge over Highway 407 and Highway 7, and Centre Street under Highway 407. While there is dedicated rapidway in both directions for the majority of the full 12.6 kilometres of the project, there is a partial rapidway at three locations:
- On Bathurst on the bridge over Highway 407 and Highway 7, there is a southbound rapidway lane for the Viva route to Centre and the Promenade Terminal.
- On Centre under the Highway 407 bridge, between Highway 7 and Dufferin Street, for the Viva westbound route to Highway 7 and Vaughan Metropolitan Centre Station and TTC Line 1 subway.
- On Highway 7, between Bathurst and Yonge, for the Viva eastbound route to Richmond Hill Centre Terminal.
Why is there a vivastation on the Highway 7-Bathurst Connecting Road?
The station was built in this location to service the Thornhill Woods community, while also accommodating future plans for a park-and-ride as part of the 407 Transitway project. When deciding where to place a vivastation, there are a number of factors taken into account. Consideration is given to accessibility, passenger comfort as well as property constraints when evaluating stop placement and distances. Bathurst is quite constrained in this area considering the bridge over Highway 407 and Highway 7, and the protected Sugarbush Heritage park area to the north. The location on Highway 7-Bathurst Connecting Road was selected as it provided enough regional right-of-way to accommodate the road widening needed for the rapidway and vivastation construction.
How are traffic patterns changing?
Rapidways change how motorists access driveways and streets between intersections. The rapidway provides safer left turns for drivers, with dedicated left-turn signals at intersections and the ability to make protected U-turns.
The elimination of mid-block left turns will help in avoiding common side-impact accidents in the median of the roadway during times of heavy traffic. This measure also helps to improve the flow of traffic.
Will pedestrians be able to easily cross the street?
At signalized intersections with viva stations, pedestrians may cross in two stages if unable to get to the other side during the first signal. To help guide them safely across, new pedestrian signals and a pedestrian countdown have been installed. The countdown will let pedestrians know how many seconds they have left to safely cross the street.
There is also a waiting area in the middle of the crosswalk, where pedestrians can push the “walk” button and wait for the next light before crossing the second half of the street, if needed.
How do people get to the station in the centre of the road?
People can get to the station by crossing at the signalized intersection and turning onto the platform ramp at the centre of the crosswalk. To return to the sidewalk from the station, a pedestrian light with push-button activation is located at the centre of the crosswalk at the platform ramp.
What happens in the event of an emergency on a vivastation platform?
A customer can push the emergency call button for [24/7] assistance and their call will be answered by a York Region Enforcement Dispatcher, which allows for two-way communication. Surveillance cameras will pan to the emergency call button area and blue pulsing lights on the platform will be activated to attract the attention of responders.
How will drivers know which lanes to stay out of?
We have designed a number of features to ensure the rapidway is easy to see, including paving it with red asphalt, "bus only" pavement markings and dotted turn lines at intersections to help guide drivers into their lane.
How will the rapidways be maintained?
Once the rapidway goes into service, York Region maintains the roadway, YRT maintains the stations and the City maintains the sidewalks and bike lanes through various service contracts.
Routes and Fares
What transit services and routes will use the new rapidway?
York Region Transit’s [YRT] Viva orange will use the rapidway on Bathurst & Centre.
Local YRT routes will continue to use curbside stops.
What changes will occur at the Promenade Terminal?
All routes [YRT 3, 23, 77, 88 and Mobility On-Request; TTC 160] will remain operating out of the Promenade Terminal except for the Viva Orange, which will now board from the vivastation on Centre St.
How frequent will service be?
Frequency and the rapidway are what will put the rapid into rapid transit. Viva is already known for being frequent and when the Bathurst and Centre rapidway opens, schedules will be adjusted to ensure appropriate spacing between arrivals.
Viva and YRT routes are evaluated by YRT’s Service Planning branch on a regular basis, and service changes are made to routes and schedules as needed.
How does fare pricing work when transferring between Viva, TTC and Züm?
- Customers coming off the TTC subway and onto a YRT bus must pay a separate YRT fare. This can be done using a PRESTO card, the YRT Pay app, or exact cash. Visit YRT’s Fare Chart page for prices. Customers may also purchase a single fare from the One Ride fare machines located inside and outside of the SmartCentres Place Bus Terminal.
- Customers coming from YRT and onto the TTC subway must pay a separate TTC fare. Visit this webpage for more information about using the TTC subway in York Region.
- York Region's Viva orange service continues to operate along Highway 7 between Martin Grove Road and Richmond Hill Centre Terminal.
How do I use PRESTO for my fare? And will I be able to reload my PRESTO card at the new bus terminal?
PRESTO is the smart card fare option for York Region Transit [YRT] as well as all other GTHA transit agencies. To use it for your fare, tap your PRESTO card on a PRESTO fare machine and your fare is deducted from your account. There are PRESTO fare machines for reloading your cards at the concourse level of TTC’s Vaughan Metropolitan Centre subway station.
Presto cards can be purchased at all Shoppers Drug Mart locations throughout the Greater Toronto Area [GTA]. Here is more information about PRESTO for YRT and Viva routes. And here is general information about paying with PRESTO: prestocard.ca.
Can I pay my YRT fare without PRESTO? Can I use cash to buy a ticket?
Yes, you may use debit, credit or exact change at a OneRide fare machine located on station platforms when riding Viva. Alternatively, you can also pay your fare using the YRT Pay app. Here is more information about payment options, fares and passes.
Are there plans for fare integration between Viva and TTC?
Metrolinx and the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area [GTHA] transit agencies, including YRT, have been working towards finding the solution to fare integration. A final solution has not been identified.
How will Viva rapidway service differ from my curbside Viva service?
Viva rapidway service will offer all the things you already love about Viva on other corridors, with the added benefit of being in your own lane and not being caught in congested traffic. Plus the stations will have amenities such as a heated enclosure, security surveillance and live service announcements so even your short wait for the next vehicle will be pleasant.
Why don’t local YRT routes use the rapidway?
Local YRT routes cannot use the rapidway since they provide frequent local service within neighbourhoods with curbside stops, the buses need to turn onto/off streets, shopping plazas and major roadways to pick-up customers. YRT Local routes then feed into the Viva rapid transit system to enable travelers to get wherever they need to go.
Cycling
Where can pedestrians and cyclists travel along this section?
Raised bike lanes: Cycling paths are next to motorized vehicle traffic and raised to the same level as the sidewalks. At intersections, the bike lane goes back down to road level. The raised bike lanes will be opened for service in 2020.
On Bathurst & Centre: Cyclists can find new raised bike lanes on Bathurst from Worth Boulevard/Flamingo Road to Centre Street and on Centre from Bathurst to Highway 7.
From Bathurst Street, along Highway 7, pedestrians and cyclists may travel on a shared-use path on the Highway 7-Yonge Connecting Road and into Richmond Hill Centre Terminal. The shared-use path runs along Highway 7 from Bathurst.
How are cyclists expected to make left turns across multiple lanes?
By using “bike boxes”. Waiting in the left turn lane with vehicles to cross multiple lanes of traffic and the rapidway wouldn’t be safe on a bike, so green-painted bike boxes are installed at corners of intersections.
Here’s how they work. Cyclists turning left at an intersection with a rapidway should proceed through the signalized intersection in the bike lane into the far side. Then stop in the bike box - a protected area, reserved for cyclists, tucked into the boulevard on the far side of the intersection. It serves as a cyclist’s waiting zone while they wait for the light to change. Once the light changes, they will then cross along with other. The bike boxes will be clearly marked with green paint like the bike lanes and other markings, so drivers and pedestrians will know they are for cyclists only. For a demonstration, see the “Cyclist Cedric” portion of this video.
Vaughan Metropolitan Centre
What is the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre [VMC] and what transit connections does it offer?
The Vaughan Metropolitan Centre is a key urban centre with a focus on connected transit networks and new growth and development, via York Region’s Centres and Corridors Program – a visionary planning framework that is channeling new jobs, housing and shopping to the newly urbanized downtowns in Vaughan, as well as Markham, Newmarket and Richmond Hill.
The Vaughan Metropolitan Centre has within it an ultra-connected transit hub. The Viva rapidway on Highway 7, the TTC Line 1 subway and now SmartCentres Place Bus Terminal are all connected to get you where you want to go.
Contacts
Who can I call if I have a question about the rapidway construction projects in Vaughan?
Keeping the public informed and engaged with our rapidway projects is important to us. Our Community Liaisons work with property owners, tenants, local businesses and residents.
For more information on VivaNext Construction, please contact our Community Liaison.
Who can I call if I have questions about YRT bus service?
YRT Information Line:
Local: 905 762 2100
Toll free: 1 866 MOVE YRT [668 3978]
Monday to Friday: 7am–7pm
Saturday, Sunday and Holidays: 8:30am–4:30pm