![\"transit](\"http:\/\/yrrtc.ca\/vivanext.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Blog_Corp_2019_03_12_TransitInYR_2-1.jpg\")
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If you haven\u2019t taken transit for a while, or are new to York Region, you may need to know a bit more about our system, and how it works.<\/p>\n
A recent article in the Markham Economist and Sun pointed out 10 Helpful facts About York Region Transit<\/a>, and it reminded us that not everyone knows the basics. We\u2019ll cover some of the facts here, and explain a few things along the way.<\/p>\n history<\/strong><\/p>\n In 2001, transit in four of York Region\u2019s nine municipalities merged to become York Region Transit [YRT]. This was following through on a vision to have a fast, convenient, seamless transit system across York Region. York Region\u2019s bus rapid transit \u2013 Viva \u2013 was launched in 2005, with curbside vivastations and distinctive blue buses [pictured above] custom-designed with higher capacity and enhanced comfort. More frequent service, prioritizing traffic signals, and off-board payment all meant improved service.<\/p>\n Viva curbside was just the beginning. In 2010, we at YRRTC began building rapidways \u2013 dedicated lanes and stations for Viva buses. As of today, we have 12.2 km of rapidways, and 18 vivastations built and open for service. By the end of this year, we should have 15 more kilometres of rapidways and 13 more stations [each station has two platforms and blue canopies \u2013 one for each direction] open for service.<\/p>\n Aside from YRT Local [white buses] and Viva [blue buses], YRT also operates Express<\/a> routes with fewer stops during rush hours, and On-Demand<\/a> service in locations and time periods with lower demand, and used by customers who need assistance or who have disabilities.<\/p>\n statistics<\/strong><\/p>\n Two things stand out in YRT\u2019s stats: many customers travelling, across a huge area. On a typical weekday, YRT serves more than 77,000 customers, and in 2016, there were 22.8 million customers. York Region is 1,762 sq. km, almost three times larger than Toronto, and 24% of the Greater Toronto Area.<\/p>\n To serve such a big area, YRT has a fleet of more than 500 vehicles, operates 128 bus routes and serves more than 5,300 bus stops and vivastations.<\/p>\n fares<\/strong><\/p>\n While it\u2019s possible to pay using cash either on board a YRT bus, or at a ticket machine at a vivastations, it\u2019s convenient and a little cheaper to use a PRESTO card<\/a> or the YRT Pay app<\/a> [free for iOS or android]. \u00a0Without these, fares are $4, or $4.50 to ride Express, or $1 to ride to GO. Using a PRESTO Card or the YRT pay app, fares are currently $3.75 for adults, $3 for youth, $2.35 for children\/seniors, $4.25 to ride Express, and still $1 to ride to GO. When you board a Viva bus you can use either the front or back door and have your proof of payment ready in case YRT staff asks to see it. Fares can change over time, and when you cross borders, so if you haven\u2019t been on YRT in a while or you\u2019re planning to travel to & from Toronto, download YRT\u2019s Fare Guide<\/a>.<\/p>\n more info<\/strong><\/p>\n Have more questions? Visit YRT.ca<\/a> for schedules and maps, and excellent trip-planning tools that will tell you how to get where you\u2019re going. They also have a feedback form<\/a> and live chat<\/a> options on their website, or if you need to hear a voice, call 1-866-668-3978.<\/p>\n future transit in York Region<\/strong><\/p>\n Transit grows along with our vibrant city centres and busy streets. Our projects here at YRRTC include more rapidways opening in the next two years, and two YRT bus terminals \u2013 in Vaughan and Markham. Future plans that require funding include building over 75 km of rapidways along other corridors \u2013 connecting Yonge Street between Newmarket and Richmond Hill, extending Highway 7 to eastern Markham and western Vaughan, and adding Viva along Jane and Leslie Streets, and Major Mackenzie Drive. There\u2019s more to explore of course. You can learn from YRT about their Service Plans<\/a>, and learn about rapidway projects on vivanext.com<\/a>. Happy travels.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If you haven\u2019t taken transit for a while, or are new to York Region, you may need to know a bit more about our system, and how it works. A recent article in the Markham Economist and Sun pointed out 10 Helpful facts About York Region Transit, and it reminded us that not everyone knows […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1067],"tags":[1105,1106,709,1107,21,6,9,468,253,236],"class_list":["post-5548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-transit","tag-express","tag-fares","tag-mobility","tag-on-demand","tag-transit","tag-viva","tag-york-region","tag-yrrtc","tag-yrt","tag-yrtviva"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yrrtc.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5548","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yrrtc.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yrrtc.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yrrtc.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yrrtc.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5548"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/yrrtc.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5548\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5551,"href":"https:\/\/yrrtc.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5548\/revisions\/5551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yrrtc.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yrrtc.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yrrtc.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}