About VIA

VIA buses operate seven days a week from 4 a.m. to 1 a.m. There are 5,984 bus stops along 75 bus lines, which are divided into five service categories: frequent, metro, express, skip, and downtown circulator.

VIA provides the following services in our community

• Bus service including downtown circulator service

• Paratransit service for riders with disabilities

• VIA Prímo high-frequency service

• VIA Link ride-sharing service

• Vanpool service for commuters

• Park & Ride Service to events

Three 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, news releases, and updated pocket schedules.

VIA is governed by a Board of Trustees

In total, VIA’s service area is 1,210 square miles. 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.

Printable System Map

The approved operating budget for fiscal year 2024 is $390.8 million.

Revenue for VIA is generated from the half-cent transit sales tax in VIA’s service area, the 1/8-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.

VIA’s Business Plan is a formal plan of action for a specified time period that is reflected in the following document’s text and monetary figures.

VIA’s budget document is divided into seven sections: Introduction, Budget Overview, Financial Overview, Operating Detail by Division, Five-Year Financial Plan, Capital Budget, and Appendices. Each section contains information related to the budget process and/or the budget approved by the VIA Board of Trustees.

VIA’s active fleet consists of 428 compressed natural gas (CNG) buses, 8 electric buses, and 75 diesel buses for a total of 511 buses.

In 2017 VIA began a conversion of its entire fleet to CNG Buses. Half of the fleet was replaced with the lower-emission vehicles by the end of 2017, with the entire fleet conversion was completed in 2020.

The 40-foot vehicles and the 60-foot Prímo articulated vehicles have a low-floor design and a retractable ramp for wheelchair access.

The active VIAtrans fleet consists of 138 paratransit vehicles – 124 are fueled by propane and 14 use unleaded fuel. All of the vans are equipped with wheelchair lifts. Each vehicle has the capacity to carry 6 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.

Our corporate culture influences the way we interact with one another and how we interact with the community we serve. The model for VIA’s corporate culture evolves from the philosophy, values, and behavior that, together, shape the unique approach, practices and output of VIA as a company. To fulfill the commitment we have to the community we serve, it is the duty of each employee to observe the guiding principles that will nurture and sustain a corporate culture that will propel VIA forward.

VIA Transit Police is dedicated to serving the traveling public by working with our community, customers, and law enforcement partners to create a safe environment throughout VIA’s service area. VIA Transit Police officers maintain a presence at VIA facilities, offices, transit centers, shelters and stops, and the routes where VIA operates. Officers conduct pro-active checks of buses, transit facilities, bus routes, and respond to calls for security as needed.

VIA’s Bicycle Patrol travels the Downtown San Antonio area to monitor activity at and around bus stops and shelters. A Problem Oriented Policing team monitors areas outside of Downtown, in which there may be security concerns at bus stops and shelters.

VIA participates in the “See Something, Say Something” safety awareness campaign, designed to encourage agency employees and members of the public to be aware of their surroundings and to report suspicious activity to proper law enforcement personnel. Partnering with VIA in this campaign are the emergency management offices of San Antonio and Bexar County and the members of City Year of San Antonio.

VIA’s ongoing commitment to environmental stewardship includes initiatives to reduce air pollution, waste and energy demands.

Vehicle Emissions Reduction

VIA’s primary sustainability efforts focus on the reduction of vehicle emissions. VIA’s maintenance personnel have performed retrofits of older buses to install reduced emissions engines, and idle limit controls are employed along with dry-break refueling. In 2017, VIA began to replace the agency’s fleet of clean-diesel-powered buses with vehicles that are fueled by Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). VIA has diversified its fleet further by integrating new, alternative power sources such as propane, electricity, and hybrid technology. VIA continues to monitor fuel and propulsion technologies that help reduce local air pollution.

Recycling Efforts

VIA employs rigorous recycling efforts, focusing on waste oil and lubricants, batteries, paint solvents, office paper, cardboard, scrap metals, refrigerant, and plastics.

Conservation

Conservation is a high priority. VIA has retrofitted its facilities with energy efficient lighting, installed upgrades to the HVAC systems and windows, and reduced the energy requirements for the climate control system of the maintenance garage.

Environmental & Sustainability Management System (ESMS)

VIA has implemented an Environmental and Sustainability Management System (ESMS) using the International Standards Organization (ISO) 14001:2004 standard as a guideline. The ESMS and its rigorous standards demonstrate the commitment that VIA has in working to mitigate environmental impacts on our community and our shared environment.

In 2016, VIA earned certification from the ISO for the agency’s proactive efforts to provide sustainable service through its ESMS. VIA was the first agency in the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) Region 6, a five-state region, to earn the ISO 14001 certification.

To commemorate the achievement, green-and-white flags were placed at VIA locations that are certified by the ISO, which sets worldwide standards and has published more than 20,500 international standards covering almost every industry. The flags fly at VIA’s Maintenance facility, 1720 N. Flores St., Administration Building, 800 W. Myrtle St., and the VIA Metro Center, 1021 San Pedro Ave.

Renewable Energy

VIA explores the use of renewable energy where feasible. The agency draws 100 percent of its electricity from CPS Energy’s Windtricity program. Solar panels will power the lighting at new bus shelters, and solar-panel systems have been installed to reduce power needs at five transit facilities, nearly 700 bus shelters, and the recently completed Centro Plaza at VIA Villa.

Water

VIA works to reduce water pollution through the use of an on-site industrial wastewater treatment facility and the installation of stormwater interceptors to prevent contaminated bus yard runoff from reaching the local watershed. Water use is also conserved through the use of native, drought-tolerant landscaping at all properties and recycled water for bus washing.

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. Figures as of January 2024. To see current openings at VIA, visit our Employment Page.

VIA is a metropolitan transit authority created according to Article 1118x of the Texas civil statutes (superseded by Chapter 451 Texas Transportation Code) to provide public transportation services within the designated boundaries.

A confirmation election was held in the majority of Bexar County on November 8, 1977, and voters approved the creation and funding of VIA Metropolitan Transit through a one-half cent sales tax to be levied in San Antonio and seven other incorporated municipalities. In March 1978, VIA purchased transit system assets from the City of San Antonio and began operations.

On November 2, 2004, voters in San Antonio approved the formation of the Advanced Transportation District, or ATD. This district uses a quarter-cent sales tax to fund transportation improvement projects carried out by VIA, the City of San Antonio, and the Texas Department of Transportation, or TxDOT. VIA receives half of the ATD revenues to enhance local public transportation services, and the other half is split between the city and TxDOT for improving streets, highways, and related transportation infrastructure.

On November 3, 2020, voters in San Antonio approved Advanced Transportation District (ATD) Proposition A to rededicate a 1/8-cent share of local sales tax for public transit, beginning in 2026. This measure reallocates a portion of an existing 1 cent of local sales tax made available for transit use by the Texas Legislature.