Viva Purple

Infobox rail line
name = VIVA Purple
color = 9966CC
type = Bus Rapid Transit
status = Phase 1
system = YRT/VIVA 1system
locale = York Region, Ontario
(Vaughan; Richmond Hill; Markham)
Toronto (North York)
start = York University
end = Markham Stouffville Hospital
stations = 23
open = September 4, 2005.
close =
owner = Regional Municipality of York (York Region Transit)
operator = Veolia Transportation

Viva Purple, or the York University/Richmond Hill/Cornell line, is a line on the Viva bus rapid transit system in York Region, north of Toronto, Canada. It is operated by Veolia Transportation under contract from the Region of York.

Route Description

There are twenty-three stations on the Viva Purple line, as well as more than 15 proposed changes to the line including new stations, relocated stations, or closed stations. Most of these changes are associated with Phase 2 of the VIVA plan.

The VIVA purple line runs along primarily the Highway 7 corridor east of Keele Street, with the brief exception on Centre Street and on Bathurst Street when the line runs through the Thornhill area. The Highway 7 corridor west of Keele Street is served by Viva Orange. Viva Purple connects with all other VIVA Lines.

Cornell Terminal

Since January 27, 2008, the VIVA Purple Line has been extended eastward to Markham Stouffville Hospital from the previous line terminus, which was McCowan. This extension involved adding 3 more stations in the line. Markham Stouffville Hospital currently acts as a temporary bus terminal for several YRT bus routes, including VIVA. This bus terminal will be moved to the intersection of Donald Cousens Way and Highway 7. Hence, the end point of VIVA purple will also be moved there, and the current Markham Stouffville Hospital Stop will be "skipped". This scheduled terminal is named as Cornell.

List of all stations

From west to east:

Name		Opening Date	City / Town	Major Connections
Viva Purple
York University		September 4, 2005	North York, Ontario	Viva Orange
Keele		September 4, 2005	Vaughan, Ontario
Dufferin		September 4, 2005	Vaughan, Ontario
Promenade Terminal		September 4, 2005	Vaughan, Ontario
Atkinson		September 4, 2005	Vaughan, Ontario
Richmond Hill Centre		September 4, 2005	Richmond Hill, Ontario	Viva Blue, Viva Pink, GO Transit (Langstaff)
Bayview		September 4, 2005	Markham/Richmond Hill, Ontario	Viva Pink
Valleymede		September 4, 2005	Markham/Richmond Hill, Ontario	Viva Pink
West Beaver Creek		September 4, 2005	Markham/Richmond Hill, Ontario	Viva Pink
Leslie		September 4, 2005	Markham/Richmond Hill, Ontario	Viva Pink
East Beaver Creek		September 4, 2005	Markham/Richmond Hill, Ontario	Viva Pink
Allstate Parkway		September 4, 2005	Markham, Ontario	Viva Pink
Woodbine		September 4, 2005	Markham, Ontario	Viva Pink
Montgomery		September 4, 2005	Markham, Ontario	Viva Pink
Town Centre Blvd.		September 4, 2005	Markham, Ontario	Viva Pink
Warden		November 20, 2005	Markham, Ontario	Viva Green, Viva Pink
Enterprise		November 20, 2005	Markham, Ontario	Viva Green, Viva Pink
Kennedy		October 16, 2005	Markham, Ontario	Viva Green
Bullock		October 16, 2005	Markham, Ontario	Viva Green
McCowan		October 16, 2005	Markham, Ontario	Viva Green
Main St. Markham		January 27, 2008	Markham, Ontario
Wootten Way		January 27, 2008	Markham, Ontario
Markham Stouffville Hospital		January 27, 2008	Markham, Ontario
"Bur Oak"		TBA	Markham, Ontario
"Cornell"		TBA	Markham, Ontario

* "proposed Vivastations after extension to Markham Stouffville Hospital"

Service from York University to Town Centre Boulevard began on September 4, 2005. Services extending from Town Centre Boulevard east to McCowan Road began October 16, 2005. Peak-time services west of York University began November 20, 2005. Services east of McCowan Road to Markham Stouffville Hospital was to begin on July 1, 2007, but has been postponed to January 27, 2008. Service east of McCowan Road to Cornell will replace the aforementioned service at a future date. Services west of York University was discontinued as of September 2, 2007.

vivaNext

In the future, the Viva Purple line will merge with the Viva Orange line, providing full service via York University until the Toronto Transit Commission's Spadina subway extension is implemented, as part of the Vaughan North-South Link transit corridor. As the Highway 7 transit corridor, the Viva Purple line will soon have its own dedicated transitway for most of the route, enabling VIVA buses to quickly pass through traffic. The line will also be extended west to the Peel Region border at Highway 50 and east to the Durham Region border at the York-Durham Line. Eventually, this transitway will be upgraded to allow light rail transit on this corridor.

The list of stations are as follows, from west to east:

* Highway 50
* Highway 427
* Highway 27
* Martin Grove Road
* Kipling Avenue
* Islington Avenue
* Wigwoss Drive/Helen Street (if future development warrants)
* Pine Valley Drive
* Aberdeen Avenue/Maycroft Avenue (if future development warrants)
* Ansley Grove Road/Witmore Road
* Weston Road
* Edgeley Boulevard/Interchange Way
* Jane Street
* Highway 407/Jane Street* (if 407 Transitway service is implemented with a station on Jane Street)
* York University*
* Highway 407/Keele Street* (if 407 Transitway service is implemented with a station on Keele Street)
* Keele Street
* GO Station on Barrie line (if a station on GO Barrie line is implemented)
* Dufferin Street
* Vaughan Boulevard/Carl Tennen Street (if future development warrants)
* North Promenade
* Westminster Drive/Atkinson Drive
* Bathurst Street
* Richmond Hill Centre
* Bayview Avenue
* Chalmers Road/South Park Road
* West Beaver Creek Road/Commerce Valley Drive West
* Leslie Street
* East Beaver Creek Road/Commerce Valley Drive East
* Highway 404 (if 404 BRT service is implemented with a station on Highway 7)
* Allstate Parkway/East Valhalla Drive
* Woodbine Avenue
* Montgomery Court/Fairburn Drive (if future development warrants)
* South Town Centre Boulevard
* IBM Private Roadway
* Warden Avenue
* Market Drive (future)
* Unionville GO Station
* Unionville Gate Area
* Kennedy Road
* McCowan Road
* Galsworty Drive/Grandview Boulevard
* Main Street Markham
* Wootten Way
* Ninth Line (if future development warrants)
* Bur Oak Avenue/Markham Stouffville Hospital
* Markham By-Pass
* York-Durham Line

* *May be eliminated when subway extension is implemented

ervice frequency

As of September 2, 2007:

*York University to Richmond Hill Centre: every 10 minutes on peak periods
*Richmond Hill Centre to Warden (combined with Viva Pink): every 5 minutes on peak periods
*Warden to Enterprise (combined with Viva Green and Viva Pink): every 3-4 minutes on peak periods
*Enterprise to McCowan (combined with Viva Green): every 6-7 minutes on peak periods

The frequency of vehicles on off-peak periods is every 15 minutes on all corridors.

Travel times

As of September 2, 2007:

*York University to Richmond Hill Centre: 32 minutes on peak periods, 26 minutes on off-peak periods
*Richmond Hill Centre to Enterprise: 26 minutes on peak periods, 22 minutes on off-peak periods
*Enterprise to McCowan: 8 minutes on peak periods, 6 minutes on off-peak periods

These results will vary depending on the traffic volume and weather.