System York Region Transit Status Phase 1 Locale York Region, Ontario | Operator Tok Transit Began service September 4, 2005. | |
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Vehicle Van Hool AG300
Nova Bus LF Series (articulated) | ||
Viva Blue, or the Finch/Richmond Hill/Aurora/Newmarket line, or the Yonge St. Corridor Line is a line on the Viva bus rapid transit system in York Region, north of Toronto, Canada. It is operated by Tok Transit, under contract from the York Region Transit. This is the busiest and the longest YRT/Viva bus route in the York Region Transit network.
Contents
List of stations
There are twenty-five stations on the Viva Blue line (from north to south):
Service from Finch Station to Bernard began on September 4, 2005. Service north of Bernard to Newmarket Terminal began November 20, 2005.
Passengers travelling between north of Bloomington and south of King must pay a two-zone fare; all others, including those starting or stopping at one of those stations, only pay for one zone.
There is also a Viva Blue Short Turn route operating from Finch Station to Bernard. According to the original environmental assessments, it is also known as the Finch-Richmond Hill line.
Future
In the future, the Yonge Street transit corridor may be served by an extension of the Yonge subway line from Finch Station to Richmond Hill Centre. North of Richmond Hill Centre, Viva Blue will have its own dedicated rapidway for most of the route from Richmond Hill Centre north to Green Lane, and along Davis Drive and Green Lane east from Yonge Street to Highway 404 and East Gwillimbury GO Station, respectively, enabling Viva buses to quickly pass through traffic. Eventually, the entire portion of rapidway will also be upgraded to allow light rail transit on this corridor.
Originally, the southern portion of the Yonge Street rapidway was to be implemented from 19th Avenue to Finch Station, but since the announcement of MoveOntario 2020 by the Ontario provincial government, proposals of the portion of rapidway from Richmond Hill Centre to Finch Station have been shelved for the subway extension on Yonge Street. While ridership on the Richmond Hill portion of Viva Blue is high for a suburban transit system, capacity constraints on the existing subway system prevent the Yonge Subway line from being extended into York Region. Alternatively (or concurrently), GO Transit plans to run express trains between Union Station in downtown Toronto, and its Langstaff train station adjacent to YRT's Richmond Hill Centre terminal daily.
The initial phase of VivaNext brings a rapidway along the portion of Viva Blue from Richmond Hill Centre to 19th Avenue/Gamble Road and from Mulock Drive to Davis Drive on Yonge Street, as well as one along Davis Drive east from Yonge Street to Highway 404. Stations along the rapidway will be lengthened and include heated shelters protected from the elements. Later phases will amalgamate the two separate rapidways into one continuous rapidway along Yonge Street from Richmond Hill Centre newly extended to Green Lane, bring a rapidway along Green Lane east from Yonge Street to East Gwillimbury GO Station, and extend the Yonge subway from Finch Station to Richmond Hill Centre. Stations along the subway would conform to the existing subway system.
The stations are as follows, from north to south (on Yonge Street), and from west to east (on Davis Drive and Green Lane):
Along the Green Lane rapidway (from Yonge Street)
Along the Davis Drive rapidway (from Yonge Street)
Along the Yonge Street rapidway
Along the Yonge Street subway
An online survey asked riders what stations they would like built along this portion of the subway. The station at Royal Orchard Boulevard was picked out of two possible locations serving the Thornhill's historic district, the other location being at Centre Street. This was because the station would have a decreased impact on the historic district.