Highway 7 Rapidway


The Highway 7 Rapidway in York Region, Ontario, Canada, is a bus rapid transit right-of-way that runs from Bruce Street in Vaughan to Birchmount Road 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, Viva Orange and Viva Green bus routes.

Route description

The first phase consisted of a Rapidway along the portion of Viva Purple from Bayview Avenue to Birchmount Road. The Rapidway consists 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 the existing Warden Avenue Vivastation 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. 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. On February 26, 2017, YRT 77 Highway 7 buses began serving the Creditstone and Keele stations along Highway 7 West Rapidway. After the extension of the Line 1 Yonge–University subway opened, Viva Orange began serving these stations along with the opening of the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre Rapidway station.

Stations

There are 25 operating rapidway stations. All stations are built at-grade.