VIA won’t start construction for the Silver Line until 2027, but residents on the East and West sides with questions about the new rapid bus line can stop in at new community offices on Buena Vista and Houston streets.
It’s part of a wave of new resources from San Antonio’s regional transit authority as VIA expands rideshare services and provides community outreach on its new bus plans and rapid transit lines.
VIA is already constructing the Green Line, a north-south advanced rapid transit (ART) bus line that will run from San Antonio International Airport to Steves Avenue, just south of I-10.
That line will open as soon as 2027 and will use dedicated bus lanes, prioritized traffic signals and more frequent pickups to move riders more quickly around San Antonio.
In-person customer support
The planned Silver Line will use those same methods to move riders between east and west. It’s on a later schedule than the Green Line, but VIA officials are trying to engage residents and get their feedback.
“We’re at 40% design. We’re in the process of selecting a final designer,” said Rod Sanchez, VIA’s vice president of planning and design. “From here, it’s more design, it’s more discussion with the community.”
VIA has already picked out the route and the stops for the Silver Line, which will run from the Frost Bank Center along Houston, Market, Buena Vista and Commerce streets to North General McMullen on the West Side.
This map is a projection of the route VIA’s Silver Line will take to get riders from the East Side of San Antonio to the West Side. Credit: Courtesy / VIA Metropolitan Transit
Sanchez said there is still a need for community input, though. VIA wants locals to talk about what stops will look like and where they go on streets and blocks.
“We’re open to having any discussion with community members. If there’s anything they don’t like, please tell us,” he said.
The agency is staffing two offices, one on Buena Vista Street near the University of Texas at San Antonio’s downtown office and the other at VelocityTX’s East Side campus near Houston Street. VIA held a ribbon cutting for its East Side office on Monday. The West Side office opens in December.
“Anybody can stop in,” said Tom Marks, VIA’s vice president of government affairs and community engagement.
It’s a blueprint VIA has applied to the Green Line: putting local staff on the ground to both welcome local questions and conduct outreach. Two full-time employees are already working in the East Side office and are available between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Most residents’ concerns, Marks said, were related to construction. When VIA gets closer to breaking ground on the Silver Line, Marks said, there will be more staff and more availability at its offices.
For now, he said, people can walk into those offices and ask questions or reach out to VIA at keepsamoving.com or at 210-362-2020 and request that VIA representatives come to events or answer questions.
Rideshare services at Brooks
VIA Link, the agency’s rideshare program, added service in Southeast San Antonio earlier this month.
VIA Link allows residents in areas with less bus service to request rides at designated pickup points and get rides within one of its six designated service areas. Those service areas are downtown, Mainland in the northwest, Naco Pass in the Northeast, Madla on the South Side, Randolph in the east and, now, a Southeast zone.
Residents can now request rides from VIA Link pickup points around Brooks, Pecan Valley and the intersection of Loop 410 and Highway 87.
Marks and Sanchez said VIA is still building up knowledge and use of those services.
“It takes us a good six months to a year to get the ridership we want,” Sanchez said.
Improvements to VIA Link and San Antonio’s bus system are part of VIA’s Better Bus Plan, a blueprint for increasing bus frequencies and altering routes the agency is rolling out in 2025 and 2026.