Viva bus at Richmond Hill Centre Terminal
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Parent | York Region Transit |
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Founded | September 4, 2005 |
Headquarters | 50 High Tech Road, Richmond Hill, ON |
Locale | York Region, ON |
Service area | York Region along the Highway 7 and Yonge Street corridors |
Service type | Bus rapid transit/Quality express bus |
Alliance | Züm |
Routes | 6 |
Fleet | 40 40' units 83 60' units |
Fuel type | Diesel |
Operator | TOK Transit |
Website | Official Website |
Viva is a bus rapid transit service operating in York Region, Ontario, Canada. Viva service is integrated with York Region Transit's local bus service to operate as one regional transit system providing seamless transit service across York Region with connections to northern Toronto.
Viva was designed and built using a public-private partnership (P3) model. York Region partnered with York Consortium, which comprises seven private sector firms with international experience in transit design, architecture, construction and operations. Under the terms of the partnership agreement, public sector responsibilities include establishing fare policies and service levels, ownership of all assets, and control of revenues and funding. Private sector responsibilities include providing professional staffing and procurement support, assuming risk on all approved budgets and schedules, and assisting York Region in its funding and financing requirements.
Viva opened in stages commencing September 6, 2005. The second stage opened on October 16, 2005, the third on November 20, 2005, the fourth on January 2, 2006, and the fifth on January 27, 2008.
Six routes are in operation: Viva Blue, Viva Purple, Viva Orange, Viva Pink, Viva Green, and Viva Yellow, which opened in November 2015.
Viva is the first phase of York Region's rapid transit plan to reduce traffic congestion. The next phase is called VivaNext.
The service uses high-end Belgian-built Van Hool and Canadian-built NovaBus buses referred to as "rapid transit vehicles" (RTVs). To maximize speed, buses make use of existing or specially lengthened right-turn lanes bypass lineups at intersections, and of bus-only lanes and roads to avoid traffic. When behind schedule, they are given priority at traffic signals.