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stouffville suntribune thursday june 16 2005 3 region rafjidlrarisit route map wmm yonst ff y v highway viva wont work without designated banes troy green writes rapid transit officially arrives in york region this fall but it wont be at its most rapid for at least another year on tuesday sept 6 a fleet of 85 rapid transit buses carrying the viva logo will begin operations on four hightraffic routes in york region- yonge street from newmarket to the finch subway- station hwy 7 from markham to vaughan and two northsouth links serving the busiest corri dors of vaughan and markham and although the regions venture into brt bus rapid transit service will improve travel times by up to 25 per cent over the conventional transit system the sleek doubleblue viva buses will be fac ing for a while at least the same problem we all have during rush hour traffic con gestion until the brt gets its own dedicated lanes buses could be stalled in heavy traf- ific and the service wont be operating at peak efficiency says maryfrances turner vicepresident of the regions rapid transit corporation the real key to putting the rapid in rapid transit is to have dedicated transit lanes separating viva vehicles from mixed traffic ms turner said thats expected to happen in the second phase of our plan if the state of we get the go- ahead for the sec ond phase soon we could have some designated lanes in place by 2008 jn ottawa it took 13 years to complete a bus- only transitway but thafs the rea son that citys sys tem is so highly regarded according to michael fitzpatrick of ottawacarleton regional transit the first sections of the exclusive busway opened in 1983and in 10 years the system had carried 500 million riders today it boasts 31 kilometres of exclusive busway thus it seems the only thing keeping york region from truly rapid transit is the small matter of about 500 million the esti mated amount of money needed to com plete the second phase of the regions 20- year rapid transit plan regional officials have been awaiting word on funding announcements from the federal arid provincial governments since well since all three levels of government kicked in 50 million each for the first phase of viva the phase opening this september funding in the form of gasoline tax rev enue already announced by the senior lev els of government is welcome but more part three of a four series discussing public transit in york region infrastructure funding is need ed said regional chairperson bill fisch i was antici pating it would be announced by now he said the original plan wasto get phase two into construction by 2006 were still not off that target if theres an announcement soon but we may have to wait another year even without designated brt lanes viva has initiated a number of improve ments to speed up the process including fewer stops computerized signalling that gives buses priority at intersections queue- jump lanes and intelligent transportation systems these will allow viva vehicles to hold green lights longer and move through intersections faster mn fisch said to appreciate the immediate 10 per cent to 17 per cent improvement in travel times in vivas first phase one only needs to look at new york where a recent report says some manhattan buses crawl at 4 miles per hour only slightly faster than the average human walks transportation planners there say if they can make buses move even 10 per cent faster they can revolutionize travel in the five new york boroughs and theyve initiated a program which includes most of the same features being used here fewer stops computerized signalling and eventually designated lanes r in los angeles the introduction of des ignated lanes and fewer stops has decreased bus travel times by 25 per cent viva expects to be carrying 36000 riders a day by the end of 2006 as many as 140000 passengers by 2021 drily about 8 per cent of residents use transit to get about ms turner said yrt however needs to move that to a 30percent split to meet its objectives a significant increase she added ifviva doesnt meet its ridership targets taxpayers will feel the crunch according to newmarket regional councillor tony van byrien a member of the transit committee we have to get revenues up to least 50 per cent of costs the same level now being met by the conventional transit sys tem- mr van bynen said thafs going to be a major challenge if we dont taxpayers are going tobe paying too much- in fact the region may have to consider different taxation fates for urban and rural residents mr van byrien said citing ottawa where innercity residents pay an annual transit levy of 430 on their proper ty taxes compared to 69 for rural resi dents see region page 28 vendors wanted f october 21 22 23 2005 wwwmarkhamhonieshowcom markham fairgrounds 10801 mccowan rd markham call for detailsof hf our buildings kids pets outdoor lk living v0cr- y wfftk ii