SAN ANTONIO – VIA Metropolitan Transit will develop a new transit center east of Frost Bank Center that will expand the system’s multi-mobility strategy.
The roughly $9 million project is earmarked for a site near East Houston Street and Loop 410 and will be somewhat similar in scope to VIA’s existing Crossroads transit center near Wonderland of the Americas on the city’s Northwest Side.
The new transit center, confirmed by VIA President and CEO Jeffrey Arndt, will complement the agency’s planned advanced rapid transit network that will include a Silver Line running from west to east through downtown San Antonio.
“It ultimately ties in through the Silver Line through, you know, the Silver Line section that ends right near Frost Bank Center,” Arndt said.
The new transit center would serve as a connection point for other VIA services as well, including its Link ride-share network. It will include bicycle storage facilities and a parking lot with electric charging stations.
The center will also have an indoor passenger waiting area, public restrooms and a customer service area.
“It’s a more complete multi-mobile solution for that area,” Arndt said.
This will be one of last projects launched on Arndt’s watch as he plans to retire at the end of the year after an impressive run with the organization.
“We should be putting the package out to bid between now and the end of the calendar year,” Arndt said, noting that construction could begin by next spring.
The latest project is part of a larger vision that expands on VIA’s transportation capabilities and provides more opportunities to connect a growing population center.
“if you think back 10 or 15 years ago, we essentially ran a robust fixed-route bus system. That was it,” Arndt said. “We started branching out.”
Now, as VIA adds new services, it is investing in the infrastructure needed to link those operations.
“We’re tying them together through facilities where we can also provide connections,” Arndt said.
Read more of this story, and other stories like it, in the San Antonio Business Journal.
Editor’s note: This story was published through a partnership between KSAT and the San Antonio Business Journal.