VIA Metropolitan Transit

VIA Metropolitan Transit

Slogan	"We're Going Places"
Parent	City of San Antonio and Bexar County
Founded	1977
Headquarters	123 N. Medina St. San Antonio, Texas United States
Service area	Greater San Antonio
Service type	Local, Express, Bus Rapid Transit (2012)
Routes	Total: 95 Local: 81 Express: 9 Tourist trolley: 1 Sightseer: 2 BRT: 2
Stops	7193
Hubs	Park & Ride: 8 Transit Center: 5
Fleet	474
Daily ridership	148,500 (Q3 2012)[1]
Fuel type	Diesel, Diesel-electric hybrid, CNG
Chief executive	Jeff Arndt
Board of Trustees	Hope Andrade, Chair
Website	viainfo.net

A new VIA bus at the Centro Plaza in Downtown San Antonio

VIA Metropolitan Transit (or simply VIA) is the mass transit agency serving San Antonio, Texas, United States, and its surrounding municipalities. It began operation in 1978 as a successor to the San Antonio Transit System.

In addition to the entire city of San Antonio, VIA serves many other Bexar County municipalities, including Alamo Heights, Balcones Heights, Castle Hills, China Grove, Converse, Elmendorf, Kirby, Leon Valley, Olmos Park, Shavano Park, St. Hedwig and Terrell Hills. It also serves unincorporated portions of the county, including Kings Point and Losoya.^[2] While VIA does not directly serve some Bexar County municipalities such as Hill Country Village, Hollywood Park, Live Oak, Selma, Schertz, Universal City and Windcrest, many of them are within driving proximity of outlying park and ride facilities.

The majority of the system uses transit buses. VIA also provides a portion of Downtown San Antonio with a Tourist trolley (VIVA Centro).

History

VIA was created in 1977 when the citizens of Bexar County voted in favor of a one-half cent sales tax to fund the service. Subsequently, VIA purchased transit assets from the City of San Antonio and began operations in March 1978, taking its name from the Latin word for "road". In 2004, city voters in San Antonio approved the formation of the Advanced Transportation District. This quarter-cent sales tax expanded and improved VIA operations.^[3]

VIA has received several accolades from the American Public Transportation Association, most notably the award for Best Transit System in North America in 1990, as well as several of APTA's safety awards in multiple years.^[3]

Services

VIA's original logo, used until 2014

VIA operates more than 500 buses (all including streetcars are wheelchair accessible) on 95 bus routes ranging from routes 2 to 660, serving the entire city of San Antonio and the majority of Bexar County. About 36 million trips are made on VIA every year.^[3] The bus routes are separated into Metro, Frequent, Skip (limited stop routes), Express, and VIVA routes (serving Downtown, The Missions, and Southtown) and the VIA Primo bus rapid transit lines.^[4] VIA provides special event service from its Park & Ride locations to events such as San Antonio Spurs basketball games at the AT&T Center, selected annual Fiesta San Antonio activities, and the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo.^[5] VIA also offers "VIATrans" paratransit services for disabled travelers.

Fares for VIA have remained relatively modest during its existence. At its inception in 1978, fares were 25¢ for most routes. Fares for most fixed routes during 2006 were 80¢, and a monthly bus pass was $20, much lower than most other transit systems in the country. On January 1, 2007, basic fares were raised to $1, and monthly pass prices were raised to $25. Basic fares increased to $1.10 and monthly pass prices were raised to $30 on January 1, 2009.^[6] On March 1, 2014, the basic bus fare was $1.20; day passes were $4 and a 31-day pass was $35.^[7] As of January 1, 2016 the base fare is $1.30; day passes were reduced to $2.75; 7-day passes are $12 and 31-day passes are $38. No fare to children below 5 who ride with fare-paying rider (limit 3). In addition, when fare is paid in cash, a transfer can be bought for $0.15.

High school, college, and trade students are able to purchase a semester pass for $38 with proof of enrollment. Upon boarding, students must display valid VIA issued IDs, or school IDs with stickers for the semester. Transfers have unlimited use on Local Service for 2.5 h in any direction, with round trips or stopovers prohibited.

To transfer from local to express, the difference of the service must be paid. Daily, 7 Day and 31 Day Passes are accepted on all routes except for VIATrans and Special Event Service.

Primo

VIA added a limited-stop bus service with BRT characteristics known as VIA Primo to the Fredericksburg Road corridor on December 17, 2012. Designated as Route 100, it connects the South Texas Medical Center to Downtown San Antonio. It also connected the main campus of the University of Texas at San Antonio to its downtown campus using an extension from the Medical Center to the UTSA Main Campus as well as a second extension that ran from the Medical Center to the nearby independent city of Leon Valley^[8] until January 2017 when the extensions were split into Route 101. VIA Primo opened on December 17, 2012 and became VIA Metropolitan Transit's first non-conventional bus offering.^[9] An expansion of Primo to the Zarzamora Street and Military Drive corridors is expected to open in late 2018,^[10] and VIA is looking into other corridors to which to add improved bus transit in the coming decades.^[11]

VIA Primo BRT Mary Louise Southbound Station to Downtown

While the new 100 route replaced two busy routes on the heavily used Fredericksburg corrdior, the 91 (skip-stop) and the 92 (frequent), it did not affect multiple-stop service from other routes that also run along their portions of Fredericksburg (metro route 96 and 97 and frequent route 520). Unlike the 91 or the 92, which continued down lower Fredericksburg (still served by the 95, 96 and 97) to downtown along the Navarro/St. Mary's one-way couplet, the 100 opts for nonstop service on I-10 between Fredericksburg and Downtown and then uses Frio to connect to the Centro Plaza between W Houston and Frio Streets then travels the Market/Commerce couplet.

A Primo Bus Departs the Northbound Mary Louise Station to The Medical Center Transit Center.

VIVA Service

On June 6, 2016 VIA unveiled 3 new routes with specialized buses to attract locals and visitors to San Antonio's iconic locations, parks, and hotels. The routes are 11 VIVA Culture, 40 VIVA Missions and 301 VIVA Centro. Route 11A Provides Service to McNay Art Museum, The Witte Museum, Brackenridge Park, The DoSeum, & The Pearl. The Route also has another branch (11B) that services the former route of the 7 Sightseer Special that serves Alamo Stadium, Trinity University, University of Incarnate Word, the San Antonio Art Museum, and the San Antonio Zoo. The Route Continues into downtown and serves Alamo Plaza as well as the King William District and Southtown. Route 40 Provides service to San Antonio's Historic Southside Missions along Roosevelt. Route 301 (Similar to the Red Streetcar Line), was modified to serve the northern part of the CBD and replaced the former "E" circulator route. The route services St Paul Square, Alamo Plaza, Market Square and Centro Plaza

An 11B VIVA Culture Bus travels along Alamo street in Downtown San Antonio, TX

Governance

VIA is governed by an eleven-member Board of Trustees, all of whom have two-year terms.^[12]

Ten of the trustees are appointed by the various governmental entities in Bexar County—the City of San Antonio appoints five members, the Bexar County Commissioners Court appoints three, and the mayors of the suburban cities acting in concert appoint two. The appointed trustees then elect a chairperson as the Board's eleventh member.^[12] The current President and CEO is Jeffrey C. "Jeff" Arndt.^[13]

Types of routes

Seniors, military, students, and the disabled ride for half price with VIA ID/Pass (seniors and those with limited mobility ride for a quarter weekdays from 9am-3pm and free weekends/federal holidays). Transfers are $0.07 and free thereafter within 150 min., with round trips and stopovers prohibited.

Routes

Standard VIA bus stop signage with the agency's original logo

The following is a list of VIA's numbered routes as of May 7th, 2018.^[14] Many routes that travel through Downtown San Antonio or change directions at a major transfer point continue with a different number; this route pair is also indicated.^[2] There is no bus service between the hours of 1:30 to 4:30.

Current fleet

VIA's fleet consists primarily of diesel, compressed natural gas, and diesel-electric hybrid vehicles. In addition, VIA acquired its first all-electric vehicles, manufactured by Proterra, in February 2013. The vehicles operate on the VIVA Centro route and charge using solar or wind power at the Robert Thompson Transit Station.^[15]

References

External links

• Official website

Coordinates: 29°26′34″N 98°29′58″W / 29.44278°N 98.49944°W / 29.44278; -98.49944