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VIA Facts & Figures

Bus Service

VIA buses operate seven days a week from 4 a.m. to 1 a.m. There are 6,960 bus stops along 91 bus lines, which are divided into five service categories: frequent, metro, express, skip, and streetcar.

Four times a year, service revisions are made to adjust for changes in ridership demand patterns and cost-effectiveness. The revisions are promoted to the public through bus flyers, farebox cards, press releases, and updated pocket schedules. At each of the times when service revisions are made (called “sign ups”), VIA’s bus operators select the routes and schedules they wish to work.

VIA also provides special event Park-and-Ride service, VIAtrans paratransit service, Starlight service, vanpool service, and contract line service.

Service Area

In total, VIA’s service area is 1,226.07 square miles, which is 98 percent of Bexar County. The service area is made up of the unincorporated parts of Bexar County and the following municipalities:

Also included in VIA’s service area is the Bexar County portion of Cibolo.

The Advanced Transportation District operates within the City of San Antonio.

Board of Trustees

VIA is governed by an eleven-member board of trustees.

The members of the VIA Board of Trustees also compose the governing board of the Advanced Transportation District.

Fiscal Management

The approved operating budget for FY 2007-08 is $145,148,715. The metropolitan transit authority portion of the budget is $124,891,488, and the Advanced Transportation District portion is $20,257,227.

Revenue for VIA is generated from the half-cent transit sales tax in VIA’s service area, the one-eighth-cent sales tax under the Advanced Transportation District, farebox revenues, bus advertising, and grant money from the Federal Transit Administration. VIA’s fiscal year begins October 1 and runs through the last day of September.

View VIA's 2007 annual report

Ridership

VIA measures ridership based on numbers of boardings, also known as unlinked passenger trips. All of VIA’s services carried 42.3 million passenger trips during FY 2006-07.

Ridership for FY 2006-07

Fleet

VIA’s fleet consists of 454 buses, comprising 63 RTS buses, 217 North American Bus Industries (NABI) buses, 16 Champion Bus buses, 139 New Flyer buses, and 19 Optima streetcars. The NABI and New Flyer buses are 40-foot vehicles that have a low-floor design and a retractable ramp for wheelchair access. These buses run on ultra-low-sulfur diesel. The Champion buses are low-floor, accessible vehicles that run on propane. VIA’s streetcars are accessible through the use of wheelchair lifts, and they are powered by propane engines.

The active VIAtrans fleet consists of 119 vehicles owned by VIA, all of which are equipped with wheelchair lifts. Each vehicle has the capacity to carry 5 ambulatory and 2 wheelchair patrons or 4 ambulatory and 3 wheelchair patrons.

All of VIA’s service vehicles are equipped with an automated vehicle location and secure voice communication system, allowing VIA to provide the best service possible by making adjustments for delays, overloading, or unforeseen occurrences.

All of VIA’s buses (except streetcars) are equipped with bicycle racks to encourage bike riders to take the bus. Both modes of transportation are environmentally responsible and economically reasonable, and the bicycle racks attract a new category of riders.

Transit Police

VIA’s transit police officers are assigned to patrol all parts of the agency’s service area and to oversee the security at VIA headquarters. Between service calls, police officers are expected to maintain a high level of visibility, and they are assigned to conduct pro-active checks of buses, transit facilities, bus routes, and various “hot spots” (areas that receive many calls for security) as needed.

VIA uses a bicycle patrol in the downtown area to monitor activity at and around bus stops. VIA also has a Problem Oriented Policing bicycle team that is deployed to areas outside of downtown in which there are security concerns around bus stops.

VIA is a member of the San Antonio Police Department’s Crime Watch Radio Alert Patrol program, and the agency participates in Transit Watch, a national program modeled after the well-known Neighborhood Watch program.

Environmental Commitment

VIA is committed to helping clean the air in the San Antonio area, and the agency is constantly exploring new technologies for reducing emissions.

In February 2005, VIA switched to using ultra-low-sulfur diesel, or ULSD, in all of its diesel-powered buses. This move came a year and a half before the fuel was mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency for use in all bus and truck fleets in the nation.

When used in conjunction with emissions-reduction equipment, ULSD can reduce nitrogen oxides emissions and particulate matter by a significant amount. VIA also uses propane in its 30-foot buses and downtown streetcars.

Employment

VIA is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. VIA supports equal opportunities for all without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, disability, sex, or age.

Child Development Center

On September 4, 1990, VIA became the first transit system in the nation to establish an on-site childcare center operated by employees to meet the childcare needs of the agency’s workers.

What began as an idea from VIA employees faced with concerns over finding affordable, quality childcare has grown into a program supported by parents and non-parents alike. The program has contributed to reduced absenteeism, increased recruitment, decreased employee turnover, improved job performance, and enhanced employee morale.

The Child Development Center (CDC) serves infants, toddlers, and children up to seven years old, and up to 73 children can be enrolled at any one time. Programs at the CDC focus on the physical, social, emotional, intellectual, and creative development of children. VIA has been praised by the transit industry and the business community for pioneering efforts in employer-provided childcare.

In October 1991, the American Public Transportation Association awarded the CDC with its prestigious Management Innovation award. In addition, the CDC earned the 1993 Best of Texas award and was recognized in 2003 for certification as a “Texas Rising Star Provider” by the City of San Antonio.