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Viva Purple

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Viva Purple
Overview
SystemYRT/Viva
OperatorTok Transit
VehicleVan Hool A330
Van Hool AG300
Nova Bus LF Series (articulated)
Began serviceSeptember 4, 2005
Route
Route typeBus rapid transit
LocaleYork Region
Communities servedRichmond Hill; Markham
StartRichmond Hill Centre Terminal
ViaHighway 7
EndCornell Terminal
Length18.2 kilometres (11.3 mi)
Stops27
Service
Frequency15 mins
Ridership5,705 (2016)[1]
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Viva Purple is a line on the Viva bus rapid transit system in York Region, Ontario, Canada. The route primarily runs in an east–west direction along a dedicated right-of-way, dubbed the Highway 7 Rapidway, in Markham and Richmond Hill. It is operated by Tok Transit under contract from York Region.

Route description

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A Viva Purple bus stops at the Richmond Hill Centre Terminal.

Viva Purple operates along Highway 7 from Richmond Hill Centre Terminal (at Yonge Street) in the west, to Cornell Terminal (east of Ninth Line) in the east.

Viva Purple also operates an 'A' branch along Enterprise Boulevard (serving Downtown Markham) between Town Centre Boulevard and Kennedy Road. Alternating buses serve this branch and the Highway 7 base route except during weekday rush hour.

Viva Purple connects with all other Viva lines except Viva Yellow. Currently, there are 27 stops (dubbed Vivastations) along the route.[2]

Viva Purple stops
Name Opening date Municipality Major connections
Richmond Hill Centre September 4, 2005 Richmond Hill
Langstaff GO Station
Bayview Markham/
Richmond Hill
Chalmers August 19, 2013
Valleymede September 4, 2005
West Beaver Creek
Leslie
East Beaver Creek
Allstate Parkway Markham
Woodbine
Montgomery
Town Centre
Warden[B] December 17, 2017
Village Parkway[B]
Sciberras[B]
Main Street Unionville[B] September 1, 2019
Cedarland[A] December 28, 2014
Warden/Enterprise[A] November 20, 2005
Andre De Grasse[A] February 5, 2017
University Boulevard[A] November 20, 2005
Kennedy/Highway 7 October 16, 2005
Bullock
McCowan
Galsworthy September 5, 2010
Main Street Markham January 27, 2008
Wootten Way
Markham Stouffville Hospital[E]
Cornell Terminal September 4, 2022[3]  52   56 

Notes

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[A] Stop served by 'A' branch (via Enterprise Blvd.) only

[B] Stop served by base route (via Highway 7) only

[E] Eastbound only

Route history

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Viva Purple has seen considerable changes since it began service on September 4, 2005:

It originally ran from York University in Toronto, via the City of Vaughan , to Town Centre Boulevard. It was extended east to McCowan Road on October 16, 2005. Rush hour service was extended west of York University to Martin Grove Road beginning November 20 of that year. On September 2, 2007, the peak service west of York University was discontinued as the overlapping service with Viva Orange turned out to be excessive. The route was extended east of McCowan Road to Markham Stouffville Hospital on January 27, 2008.

On December 17, 2017, the route was given a Toronto subway connection at York University when the namesake York University Station opened upon completion of the northward extension of the western branch of Line 1 Yonge–University.[4] The branch along Highway 7 (bypassing the Downtown Markham routing via Enterprise Boulevard) was also established at this time.

On September 2, 2018, service to York University and the subway was discontinued when Viva Purple was cut back again to Richmond Hill Centre Terminal.

On September 5, 2021, the original route (along Enterprise Boulevard) was designated as the 'A' branch (Viva Purple 'A'), and the later branch (along Highway 7) was designated as the base route. On September 4, 2022, the eastern terminus was extended to the new Cornell Terminal.[3]

Rapidway

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The Viva Purple line follows the aforementioned Highway 7 Rapidway dedicated right-of-way for most of its route. Eventually, the entire Highway 7 Corridor could be upgraded to light rail transit.[5]

References

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  1. ^ "Moving to 2020" (PDF). York Region Transit. 2016. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  2. ^ "Viva System Map January 5, 2020" (PDF). York Region Transit. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Cornell Bus Terminal". www.yrt.ca. 15 August 2022. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  4. ^ Beattie, Samantha; Spurr, Ben (December 16, 2017). "After delays, cost overruns, and tragedy, a subway to Vaughan is complete". The Toronto Star. Archived from the original on December 17, 2017. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  5. ^ "vivaNext: LRT". 2011-07-17. Archived from the original on 2011-07-17. Retrieved 2017-12-16.