Highway 7 Rapidway

Highway 7 Rapidway
Overview
System	Vivanext
Operator	YRT/Viva
Began service	March 6, 2011
Route
Locale	York Region, Ontario (Vaughan; Richmond Hill; Markham)
Start	Richmond Hill Centre Terminal
End	Warden Avenue
Stations	12
Route map Pine Valley Ansley Grove Weston Highway 400 Commerce Vaughan Metropolitan Centre Creditstone MacMillan Yard Keele Highway 407 Dufferin Centre Promenade Atkinson Bathurst Yonge Street Viva Yonge Richmond Hill Centre Langstaff GO Bayview Chalmers Valleymede West Beaver Creek Highway 404 Leslie East Beaver Creek Allstate Parkway Woodbine Montgomery Town Centre Cedarland Warden Market Enterprise Unionville

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The Highway 7 Rapidway in Regional Municipality of York, Ontario, Canada, is a bus rapid transit system that runs from Richmond Hill Centre Terminal in Richmond Hill to Warden Avenue in Markham. There are plans to extend it west to Highway 50 and east to Cornell Terminal. It is served by Viva Purple, Viva Pink, and Viva Green bus routes.

As the Highway 7 transit corridor, the Viva Purple line will have a dedicated right of way dubbed "rapidway" for most of the route. This will enable Viva buses to quickly pass through traffic.

The first phase of VivaNext brings a rapidway along the portion of Viva Purple from Bayview Avenue to Birchmount road. The rapidway will consist of bus lanes in the median of Highway 7 between Bayview Avenue and Town Centre Boulevard, and a new bus-only road parallel to Enterprise Drive, between Warden Road and Birchmount Road, extending to Kennedy Road in 2018. Stations along the rapidway will be longer than existing stations, and include heated shelters protected from the elements. On March 6, 2011, the first segment of the rapidway from Warden Road to Birchmount Road including the Warden rapidway station opened. On August 18, 2013, the rapidway along Highway 7 opened from Richmond Hill Centre to East Beaver Creek Drive and the subsequent year to Town Centre Boulevard (and to Cedarland on December 28, 2014). Later phases will extend the rapidway west to Highway 50 and east to Cornell Terminal, potentially to the Durham Region border at the York-Durham Line.

2014-2017 changes

Viva Purple will undergo many changes between 2014 and 2017. With the opening of the Spadina Subway extension, Viva Purple will terminate at Richmond Hill Centre, where passengers can connect to Viva Orange for service to Vaughan Metropolitan Centre. Eventually, this corridor could be upgraded to light rail transit.

Stations

Leslie Street Rapidway station under construction in May 2012

Rapidway stations feature heated shelters

There are 12 operating rapidway stations and 28 stations to be added. All stations are built at-grade.

Stations[1]
Name		Opening Date	Municipality	Service
Highway 50		TBA	Vaughan	Viva Orange
Highway 427		TBA	Vaughan	Viva Orange
Highway 27		TBA	Vaughan	Viva Orange
Martin Grove		TBA	Vaughan	Viva Orange
Kipling		TBA	Vaughan	Viva Orange
Islington		TBA	Vaughan	Viva Orange
Helen		TBA	Vaughan	Viva Orange
Pine Valley		2020	Vaughan	Viva Orange
Ansley Grove		2020	Vaughan	Viva Orange
Weston		2020	Vaughan	Viva Orange
Commerce		2020	Vaughan	Viva Orange
Vaughan Metropolitan Centre		2016	Vaughan	Viva Orange
Creditstone		2016	Vaughan	Viva Orange
Keele		2016	Vaughan	Viva Orange
Dufferin		2020	Vaughan	Viva Orange
Centre		2020	Vaughan	Viva Orange
Promenade Terminal		September 4, 2005	Vaughan	Viva Orange
Atkinson		2020	Vaughan	Viva Orange
Bathurst		2020	Vaughan	Viva Orange
Richmond Hill Centre Terminal		September 4, 2005	Richmond Hill	Viva Purple, Viva Pink, Viva Orange
Bayview		August 19, 2013	Markham, Richmond Hill	Viva Purple, Viva Pink
Chalmers		August 19, 2013	Markham, Richmond Hill	Viva Purple, Viva Pink
Valleymede		August 19, 2013	Markham, Richmond Hill	Viva Purple, Viva Pink
West Beaver Creek		August 19, 2013	Markham, Richmond Hill	Viva Purple, Viva Pink
Leslie		August 19, 2013	Markham, Richmond Hill	Viva Purple, Viva Pink
East Beaver Creek		August 19, 2013	Markham, Richmond Hill	Viva Purple, Viva Pink
Allstate Parkway		August 24, 2014	Markham	Viva Purple, Viva Pink
Woodbine		August 24, 2014	Markham	Viva Purple, Viva Pink
Montgomery		August 24, 2014	Markham	Viva Purple, Viva Pink
Town Centre		August 24, 2014	Markham	Viva Purple, Viva Pink
Cedarland		January 4, 2015	Markham	Viva Purple, Viva Pink
Warden		March 6, 2011	Markham	Viva Purple, Viva Pink, Viva Green
Birchmount		2018	Markham	Viva Purple, Viva Pink
Enterprise		2018	Markham	Viva Purple, Viva Pink
Kennedy		TBA	Markham	Viva Purple, Viva Pink
Bullock		TBA	Markham	Viva Purple, Viva Pink
McCowan		TBA	Markham	Viva Purple, Viva Pink
Gallsworthy		TBA	Markham	Viva Purple
Main Street Markham		TBA	Markham	Viva Purple
Wooten Way		TBA	Markham	Viva Purple
Cornell Terminal		TBA	Markham	Viva Purple

Italics indicate future rapidway station.

Viva Green will be rerouted away from McCowan and Highway 7 as the route will terminate at Bathurst and Major Mackenzie and Viva Orange will be extended west to Highway 50 and east to Richmond Hill Centre.

References

1. "Project Map". vivanext. York Region Rapid Transit Corporation. Retrieved January 2015. Rapidway Construction

External links