From horse-drawn streetcars to public buses: A look at San Antonio’s public transportation history
SAN ANTONIO – Editor’s note: This content was created exclusively for KSAT Explains, a new, weekly streaming show that dives deep into the biggest issues facing San Antonio and South Texas. In 1878, the San Antonio Street Railway Company started the first horse-drawn streetcar service from San Pedro Springs to Alamo Plaza. By the 1950s to 1960s, San Antonio buses made several more advances in public transportation. “Imagine that, most vehicles at that time did not have air conditioning.”The city of San Antonio bought the transit company in 1959 and formed the San Antonio Transit System. VIA buses hit the road in 1978, exactly 100 years after streetcars pulled by horses made their way through downtown San Antonio.