SAN ANTONIO – VIA Metropolitan Transit says it is working to make bus service faster and more reliable across San Antonio. It plans to do so by increasing service frequency, reducing some stops on key lines and adding new routes.
“What they are asking for is more frequency and more bus service,” VIA President and CEO Jon Gary Herrera said while riding a route and discussing upcoming upgrades.
Last month, the transit agency rolled out its most extensive set of service improvements in history, affecting about 30 routes.
A year ago, about 70% of riders faced waits of 30 minutes or more, the agency said. Now, about 72% of rides involve a wait of 30 minutes or less.
VIA also cited internal modeling that suggests demand rises sharply as buses arrive more frequently: If a bus comes every 10 minutes, an estimated 84% of people in the city would take the bus. When wait times grow to 20 minutes or longer, demand drops significantly.
“Once you get the frequency and once you’re getting the travel time down, you also (have) got to make sure you’re taking the traveler to where they need to go,” Herrera said. “We’re a big city, and we got big sprawl.”
Among the planned additions: a new direct route from downtown to the South Texas Medical Center in May, and expanded coverage beyond Loop 410, VIA said.
For some riders, the changes could make a low-cost option more practical for daily life.
“I’m currently on my way to an IT interview,” rider Elnathan Hampton Jr. said as he rode the bus, adding that he hoped “everything goes well.”
Hampton said he grew up riding public transportation.
“I come from a long line of people who ride the bus,” he said. “I grew up riding with my mother. It’s very cheap, I pay $1.30 for (a) fare, and you can get darn near anywhere in the city.”
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