Viva Orange

VIVA Orange
Overview
Type	Bus Rapid Transit
System	YRT/VIVA 1system
Status	Phase 1
Locale	York Region, Ontario (Vaughan) Toronto (North York)
Termini	Martin Grove Downsview Station
Stations	12
Operation
Opening	October 16, 2005.
Owner	Regional Municipality of York (York Region Transit)
Operator(s)	Veolia Transportation
Route map

The Viva Orange line runs from Martin Grove and Downsview Station. Also called the Vaughan North-South Link.

Downsview Vivastation is served by Viva Orange buses.

Viva Orange, or the Martin Grove-York University-Downsview line,^{[citation needed]} or the Vaughan North-South Link is a line on the Viva bus rapid transit system in York Region, north of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its entire route is also served by other agencies' bus rapid transit services. Between Martin Grove and York University, Brampton Transit's Züm route duplicates service, and between York University and Downsview Station, the TTC's Route 196 York University Rocket duplicates service.

There are twelve stations on the Viva Orange line (from south-east to north-west):

• Vivastations south of Steeles Avenue

Service on this line began on October 16, 2005.^[1]

Fare Integration

With Brampton Transit

Viva Orange shares routing with Brampton Transit's Züm express bus route between Martin Grove and York University, and has been fare integrated with it since its creation in September 2010. Both Brampton Transit and York Region Transit proofs of payment are accepted for the entire length of both bus routes.

Prior to the creation of Züm, there was a similar fare agreement in place on Route 77, which operated between Bramalea City Centre Terminal and Finch Bus Terminal, and was jointly operated by York Region Transit and Brampton Transit. Both Brampton Transit and York Region Transit fares were accepted on Route 77, including the 77A branch between Bramalea and York University. Concurrently with the opening of Züm, route 77 was cut back to Highway 50, the border between Brampton and York Region, and is now operated exclusively as a YRT route, though Brampton Transit's proof of payment continues to be valid for that route (as is YRT proof of payment valid for Brampton bus route 1).

With the Toronto Transit Commission

Viva Orange duplicates the routing of the Toronto Transit Commission's 196 York University Rocket bus rapid transit route between York University and Downsview Station. On this segment, both TTC and YRT proofs of payment are accepted^[2]

Apart from the period from September 2010 to May 2011 while routes were being shifted onto the York University Busway, Viva Orange has duplicated Route 196 since its opening. However, until a policy change was enacted on August 12, 2010, York Region Transit did not have a mandate to cover Toronto itself and Viva Orange buses could not pick up passengers south of Steeles except at York University. Passengers transferring to Viva Orange from TTC services at Downsview Station were required to pay a YRT fare, yet they could ride Route 196 at no extra cost. This caused Viva Orange to travel at a much lesser load than Route 196, which was often overcrowded. Currently, VIVA Orange buses share the Dufferin Street bus lanes and the hydro corridor bus roadway with Route 196, but do not use the busway inside York's campus that connects to the "Commons" bus terminal, and takes slightly longer than Route 196 to get there as a result. VIVA Orange also stops in a different location than Route 196 at York University; this and the frequency of VIVA Orange (15 minutes whereas Route 196 runs every 2 minutes September to May) cause less people to choose it as an alternative.

Near Future

In the 2013 service plan, a proposal was put in place to reduce service from York University to Downsview Station to run during peak periods only to prevent service duplication with TTCs 196 York University Rocket. Also, in the 2014 service plan, a proposal was put forward to discontinue non-rush hour service west of Pine Valley Drive. This means that full Monday-Sunday service will only be available from York University to Pine Valley Drive. In the 2017 VIVA Network Plan, a plan was put forward to extend the VIVA orange to Richmond Hill Centre and Finch Terminal. The proposal would see the VIVA orange start from Highway 50, stopping at Highway 427, Highway 27, Martin Grove, Kipling, Islington, Helen, Pine Valley, Ansley Grove, Weston, Commerce, Vaughan Corporate Centre Subway (2016), Creditstone, Keele, Dufferin and Promenade Terminal. From here, every other trip will head towards Finch Station, stopping at New Westminster, Bathurst, Hilda, Clark, Steeles and Finch Terminal. All other trips will head towards Richmond Hill Centre, stopping at Atkinson, Bathurst and Richmond Hill Centre Terminal. This service would connect to the future Spadina Subway Extension at Vaughan Corporate Centre.

vivaNext

In the future (2015), as the Vaughan North-South Link transit corridor, the Viva Orange line will be replaced by a subway line on the portion of the route from York University to Downsview Station, as part of the Toronto Transit Commission's Spadina subway extension, and by Viva Purple along the Highway 7 portion of the route, eliminating a transfer for east-west travellers. Eventually, the entire transitway (i.e., Highway 7) portion of the route could be upgraded to allow light rail transit on this corridor.

Service frequency

As of February 24, 2013.

• Peak Periods: 15 Minutes
• Off-Peak: 20 minutes.

Between York University and Martin Grove Viva Orange is overlapped with zum. Since there is a full fare agreement, one can board any bus. Therefore the average frequency is 7.5 minutes peak and 10 minutes off-peak.

Travel times

As of February 24, 2013:

• Martin Grove to York University: 27 minutes at all times
• York University to Downsview Station: 17 minutes on peak periods, 18 minutes on off-peak periods

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

References

1. ↑ http://transit.toronto.on.ca/gotransit/2111.shtml
2. ↑ http://www.yorkregiontransit.com/news/Viva_orange_TTC_notice_half_web.pdf

3. http://yrt.ca/