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York Region Transit: Viva service thread

xtremesniper said:
I do agree that both areas deserve service, but if they're just going to be putting tracks up Leslie, that doesn't accomplish much. The Beaver Creek business area is not directly on Leslie, so you wouldn't get many of the office dwellers out of their cars (or the Lunch Express, before it got terminated for whatever reason).
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We'll have to see what they propose, but I can think of a few loop ideas if there is no long term plan to go up to Major Mac.
 
Connecting Markham Centre to Fairview Mall doesn't really accomplish anything other than connecting the dots, which is one reason why Viva Green is such a bust. Currently, there's a lot more jobs in Beaver Creek than Markham Centre, but running up Leslie doesn't serve stuff at VP or Warden, or even Allstate. Getting rid of the double fare would mean Warden and Don Mills/Leslie could get their own line.

Don't forget that the Yonge subway extension will shift many 416-905 commuters away from the Don Mills/Viva Green corridor to a subway->Hwy 7 approach (and vice versa for 905ers coming into the 416).

nfitz said:
Seems a pretty bleak connection down Steeles ... or even down 14th.
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Running up Don Mills, over on Steeles, and up Warden wouldn't be bleak - it'd run past a huge number of jobs, more than would be served by stopping at Leslie & 7, for instance. It slices up three potential transit corridors, though...Warden, Don Mills/Leslie, and Steeles are all fine choices for more than just regular buses.
 
I'd think of it this way:

Running the line up Don Mills and then continuing on Leslie would mean residential ridership for the most part, up until the 407 where it becomes a little more commercial/industrial oriented with the start of ATI/AMD, and those other office "towers" there.

Running the line up Don Mills, over on Steeles, and up Warden would mean a more job oriented ridership, as Warden overall north of Denison is fairly commercial/industrial as well, and then it connects to Downtown Markham just north of the 407. If it continues north, you'd reach the civic centre at Hwy 7, and if you go all the way to Major Mac you'd connect at Angus Glen community Centre, which I think would be a nice end point for the line that would be very future proof, and would spur big development at the currently undeveloped intersection of Major Mac and Warden.
 
Here's an interesting list of Markham's top employers:
http://www.markham.ca/NR/rdonlyres/CB90E638-CD59-40E7-894B-0D9EFD01D621/0/top100employers2008.pdf

Quite a few jobs are found along a potential Steeles-Warden alignment. Enough to bother not running Don Mills up Leslie, though? Maybe, maybe not. The biggest question is how many people will take the Yonge subway to Viva Purple.

nfitz said:
Ultimately perhaps ... though in the short term, I'd think that ridership would be even lower than Sheppard East of Agincourt.
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No, it wouldn't.
 
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kettal said:
or it could be that Downtown Markham isn't even built yet?
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There's already tens of thousands of jobs along Viva Green.

Why does a Markham Centre-Fairview connection matter at the direct expense of connecting other dots? Between improvements to the Stouffville line and the future Yonge subway extension + Viva Purple combo (that will also run to Markham Centre), why is it needed?
 
It is the most logical northern terminus for the Don Mills LRT. If you can have it go to a designated town centre, why not?

Also, it is in everyone's interest that there are alternatives to the Yonge subway.
 
Because it can go to Beaver Creek...Markham Centre's employment targets may never be reached. Choosing any alignment means bypassing some other place, and choosing the unbuilt place that's already at a GO station is not at all more logical than continuing up Leslie.

The alternative is the Stouffville line...or the Richmond Hill line.
 
scarberiankhatru said:
Connecting Markham Centre to Fairview Mall doesn't really accomplish anything other than connecting the dots, which is one reason why Viva Green is such a bust. Currently, there's a lot more jobs in Beaver Creek than Markham Centre, but running up Leslie doesn't serve stuff at VP or Warden, or even Allstate. Getting rid of the double fare would mean Warden and Don Mills/Leslie could get their own line.

Don't forget that the Yonge subway extension will shift many 416-905 commuters away from the Don Mills/Viva Green corridor to a subway->Hwy 7 approach (and vice versa for 905ers coming into the 416).



Running up Don Mills, over on Steeles, and up Warden wouldn't be bleak - it'd run past a huge number of jobs, more than would be served by stopping at Leslie & 7, for instance. It slices up three potential transit corridors, though...Warden, Don Mills/Leslie, and Steeles are all fine choices for more than just regular buses.
Click to expand...
This is what I was thinking exactly. I guess in the short term, running up Leslie to service Beaver Creek would be good. In the long term however, Viva Green could and should use at least a bit of that ROW to have LRT going from Don Mills to Markham Town Centre. I think that Leslie should be going first, with plans to LRT/Busway ify Viva Green.
 
Sharing Don Mills tracks between Sheppard and Finch amongst three LRT lines (Don Mills - Leslie, Don Mills - Warden - Enterprise, and Sheppard - Finch Crosstown) will be problematic due to the high combined frequency.

It would be better to cancel Finch E Bypass, and use its funding (350 - 400 m) to extend Sheppard subway to Vic Park and build a subway / LRT interchange there. Then, 3 LRT lines can be anchored:

Sheppard East, off Vic Park Stn
Vic Park north - Steeles - Warden - Enterprise, off Vic Park Stn
Don Mills north - Leslie, off Don Mills Stn
 
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