What VIA Gets Right

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As a person who criticizes VIA a lot and as a person who lives in a city that doesn't appreciate their public transit service, it is easy to forget what our transit agency does right. So in this posting, I have decided to point out everything they do right and just maybe this is the reason why we constantly see all those award signs as to how VIA is the best transit system, while at the same time we shake our head and wonder how the hell did they get that. It is because the average VIA rider rarely travels to other cities and uses those public transit systems to compare it to ours that we don't know how good we got it.


But Stops:

We take this for granted that VIA has well marked out bus stop sign and the routes posted on that sign to tell you if they stop there. Everywhere you go, you'll see one of these unique signs and you will know right off the bat that this is a bus stop and that these routes stop here and if there happens to be no Sunday service. They also have a bus stop ID number which makes it pretty easy to figure out what time the bus will stop there by using their app or texting that ID number to 52020. In other cities this isn't the case just like this perfect example of this bus stop on The T in Fort Worth across from the Fort Worth Convention Center.(Image 38-2) Many systems across the country fail their riders by not doing what VIA does to their bus stops.  .

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Route Numbers

VIA numbers it's bus routes very well. Except for the 100 Primo and perhaps future Primo routes, the bus routes 1-99 go to downtown and the 500's are crosstown buses and 600's are neighborhood bus routes in the suburbs. Also you can tell which set of numbers serve what side of town just by reading the number.  Image 38-3 shows how they pretty much number the buses that serve to and from Downtown. In other cities especially in Austin, the route number just don't tells it where it goes, but it also tells how it serves creating a complicated mess of multiple routes. Imagine if they renumbered the 76 Old Hwy 90 West,(Image 38-5) and gave it a new number like 376 to tell you people that it is a bus route that skips stops. VIA describes what type of service it is by the designation as either an Express, Skip, or Metro type route.

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In other cities, the same bus route number that serves one side of town, will also serves the other side of town and go in multiple directions.(Image 38-6) This isn't the case here in San Antonio for as the bus enters downtown, it changes it bus route number and continues to the other side of the city. People might complain about this, but in reality, this is a good thing because there’s no confusion on what numbers serve what side of town from Downtown.(Image 38-3) By allowing the bus route numbers to change it's route number, you allow the efficiency of providing buses to needed areas. Also by changing the route number, you remove confusion on where the bus is going.

VIA works on keeping the routes parallel and strait, rarely overlapping with each other. Only a handful of routes split off to serve a greater area like the number 28, or the 75 for example but always return to back the other way. Unfortunately they failed to keep this simple lesson when in mind when they returned bus service down Walters Street, thus causing chaos for those trying to get to either Walters St, or E Southcross and WW White. I hope those at VIA reading this will fix this problem in the next round of changes so that when the 515 get to McCreless, they can change the route number to 509, thus elevating any confusion.

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VIA allows Bikes on the BRT

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In all the other cities around the country, only VIA allows the bicycles to come aboard their BRT. In Austin, Los Angeles, Fort Worth (Image 38-4) and many other cities which have BRT services, they have a bicycle rack on the front of their BRT if they even thought it was needed to put a bicycle rack on in the first place.

VIA's Schedules are Easy to Read.
Unless you actually traveled to other cities, you never know how easy it is to read a bus schedule here in San Antonio.(Image 38-5) This has been the case for a long, long time even before they redid the routes back in 2004. Each bus schedule have the route map on the top the city's streets that you would normally see on a regular street map right behind the cover. Then they have the times of where and when below in vertical rows.(Image 38-5)
 

If you don't think that the average VIA bus schedule isn't easy to read, then I'll leave you with this beautiful bus schedule map of the number 1 from Fort Worth The T.(Image 38-6) If you can understand where this bus goes and what time it gets (Download the PDF schedule) there, please get back to me, for I barely know myself. Even when San Antonions used DART and CapMetro and say that those systems are better than VIA, for apparently even those schedules are a little hard to read. Why they couldn't use the same pattern VIA does on all it's schedule is beyond me.(Image 38-5) Seems to me it would be the logical thing to do.

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VIA Operates on Major Holidays.

We're spoiled San Antonio for we get bus service on Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Years Day, and even the Forth Of July. You might not think this to be a big deal, but in other cities across this nation, they shut down the buses for major holidays. I was in Albuquerque on Christmas Day 2007 and there was no bus service on that day. I had to walk everywhere to get to where I needed to go. So the next time your complaining about only Sunday Service on Christmas, then take into account many major cities in the USA don't have service on that holiday.

Trash Cans at Bus Stops

This is a no brainer. Go to other cities, and they're a lot of trash on the sidewalk around the bus stop.

No Subcontractor Operating this Route

Except for Grey Lines Operating the Para-transit service, something I wish VIA would stop doing, every bus driver, every mechanic is a VIA employee. It's the main reason why we see them win awards year after year. It's the reason why we see their bus drivers on TV and newspapers worldwide touting how they're a good driver.  With this arrangement, VIA gets to tout the most efficient cost ratio compared to any other transit agency in the Sate of Texas, unlike Austin, Houston, and other cities, in which those transit agency outsources to a for profit corporation to operate their services. Somebody who's politically correct will say how this is a good thing and it saves money, but in reality it cost services and money to the tax payers and those who work for these corporations operating the transit services are not loyal to the transit agencies themselves but are loyal to the corporations themselves first. I should know for if I told you what I use to do for a living, you would have thought I worked for that company, but I didn't. In actual fact, I worked for a subcontractor that company hired. I was never loyal to the company that I did the work for because I was loyal to the subcontractor that I worked for because they signed my paychecks and that company the subcontractor did the work for was constantly mistreating us all the time and accused us, the subcontractor employees (me) of things we never did. You do not have this problem at VIA because that VIA bus driver is loyal to VIA. In Houston, the transit agency outsources it's operations to First Transit and I've heard stories from people who live in Houston of bus drivers passing by people waiting at bus stops with them clearly seen. Rarely do I hear of VIA bus drivers missing people at bus stops. It's one of the reasons why they're putting in those new bus stops shelters that I'm complaining about. This is so the bus driver can see people at the bus stop and well stop.

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The Lowest of Fares in the USA

So many people believe that they receive all their funding from the fare box which is a lie. And yet, we have some of the lowest fares in the Nation. A ride on VIA cost $1.20 and if you need to transfer to another bus, it will cost $.15 cents more. The Fare structure is pretty simple too (Image 38-7) for everyone can buy a Big Pass for $35 and use that pass for 31 days to ride all the types of bus services (including Express service) all month long. In Austin, they have three different fare types and monthly passes to accompany each type of fare. One for their local metro services, one for their Express services, and finally another one for their Commuter Rail and BRT (Primo) services. (Image 38-8) When I was in Austin last time without a bicycle, I bitch and complain that I had to pay extra just to use the Train there. What a ripoff to live in a city like Austin and have a terrible fare structure keeping those who depend on the bus off of the services they need the most. So far as I have understood, VIA has no plans to have a separate fare structure for any future rail services nor create a separate fare structure for any existing or new Primo services.

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It could be worse, you could live in a place that has a zone fare structure in place which makes the poorest of those who cannot afford to live in the inner city pay more just to get around.

VIA Receives only a 1/2 Cent Sales Tax

Compared to other cities such as Dallas, Houston, and Austin and even San Marcos which receive a full cent sales tax. Under the charter that created the agency, they can only collect ½ cent sales tax to pay for transit operations. Every time you buy a soda, a t-shirt, or any other retail item at a store here in San Antonio and only municipalities that pay for their services, do you pay for VIA. This is the reason why they cannot provide overnight bus services, and why they consolidate the bus services into combining bus routes in the Line-up services at 10:30pm, 11:30pm and 12:30am. But with such a limited funding source, they're still able to provide 15 minute services on many of it's routes and expanded services to other routes when they're able to just like they did recently to several routes. I have never know VIA to cut services unless they absolutely had to and when they were able to, they brought it back.


There's a lot of people here in San Antonio that equates VIA = Sucks. And I'm not immune to this for I write what is wrong with VIA all the time. I recently wrote a two part series on how VIA could improve their image and services, Part I, and Part II. Yes they need to improve this and that here and there, but it's small things and many times it's out of VIA's hand for they're lacking the resources to fix that problem in the first place like overnight bus service, or a lack of a grid street pattern outside Loop 410. While I was in Fort Worth, I found three things VIA could do to improve things (Image 38-9 thru 38-11) but you have to remember folks, we have a very good system and a system that is easy to understand. I would never want the route numbering system Fort Worth has nor their bus stop signs. That would simply work to keep San Antonio Lame and VIA for the most part works on Keeping San Antonio Real. 

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Images:
38-1: A 515 Bus Stop at the corner of Southcross Ranch and Copperhead LN looking South.  Illustrating the number, the no Sunday service,and Bus Stop ID Number.
38-2: The T Bus Stop in Fort Worth across from the Fort Worth convention Center on Houston St.
38-3: A illustration I designed showing how VIA determines how they number their bus routes.  It's rare to find this same technique in numbering routes in other cities.
38-4: The Spur at it's bus stop at the Fort Worth Intermodal Center illustrating the bike rack they have on board compared to VIA's Primo which allows bicycles inside the bus.
38-5: VIA's bus schedule showing how easy it is to read the map and the timetable. 
38-6: The T number 1 route map showing how confusing it is to figure out where that bus goes. 
38-7: VIA's bus fare structure, showing how simple it is and cheap to ride the bus.
38-8: CapMetro's fare structure showing how confusing it is to use.  
38-9:  Currently VIA doesn't allow people to put any item over the front wheels.  However in For Worth on the T, people routinely put things over the front wheel to keep the walkway cleared.
38-10: I found this humurous sign on the buses in Fort Worth.  Seems like we could do the same thing here in San Antonio
38-11:  Currently VIA doesn't  have a garbage can on the bus, but in Fort Worth, the placed one right behind the seat next to the back door. 

Advice on Improving VIA Part II

Last week, I focus on bus stop locations and Transit Centers.  This week I'll be focusing on transit times and bus fare. To improve VIA, they cannot just do it by where they locate their transit centers and bus stops, it also means to working to make the buses go just a little bit faster and perhaps, make it free to use by all of San Antonio.

3.  Make PRIMO Go Faster

The Economist wrote how collecting fare on the bus is just not economical and slows down buses yet we do it on Primo.  When Primo services were sold to San Antonio, it was promised that it would run just a little bit faster just like light rail and be cheaper.  But now as I ride this route, I find that it's a little bit slower than what it replaced which was the 91 Fredricksburg Rd, Skip Stop.  When similar service is sold in other cities across North America, it is sold as cheaper than light rail, but with the same speedy service you get on rail.  In other cities, you don't pay for the bus fare on the BRT (Bus Rapid Transit), but you buy a ticket at the station where you get on board the BRT.  That's not how VIA does it, for you have to pay for the bus fare as you board the Primo.  This slows the bus down quiet a bit especially at Deco District Station. Since this is the main bus route down Fredricksburg Rd now, most people ride the 100 instead of the 95 or 520.  It's time that VIA stop collecting bus fare for the Primo on the bus, and instead allow all the doors to open up and have people board it like you would a light rail train stopped at a station.  Have VIA police board the bus and ask people for their bus tickets and proof of fare as they're doing that, they can issue some fines like the DART police does on the light rail in Dallas. Have the tickets sold have a expiration time so it can be use like one would use a transfer.

4.  Removing Traffic Jams for VIA Downtown.

If you live on the East Side like I do and to take the bus into downtown, you would have notice that during every weekend from Thanksgiving through Memorial Day, a traffic Jam forms as every car coming from the North Side is looking for parking downtown mainly at Rivercenter Mall. (Image 33-2)  Now I don't see this as much in Dallas because their Light Rail does a pretty good job in having people who want to enjoy downtown choose transit over driving.  A good example is what I saw during the 4th Of July, 2004.  After the Downtown fireworks display, I was riding the Blue Line back to my motel room which was located out by I-610, the train was crowded with  lots of families and their kids. To me, this was amazing because when similar events take place here in downtown San Antonio, everyone drives to downtown, not so in Dallas because trains are just better thing to ride than buses, and if you want to know why that is, well click right here to find out.

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So since we don't have a good alternatives to driving downtown like they do in Dallas, cars end up jamming up the paths of Eastside buses at E Commerce and Bowie including the 100 from speeding through downtown like it was intended to do so.  So why can't VIA work with the City of San Antonio and close off the far left lane and leave that lane open only for buses? What is so hard about this is beyond me because if VIA wants more people to ride their buses they're going to have to have faster service to get more people to ride. If they're not willing to fix this weekend traffic jam then why bother to ride the bus when driving is so much faster. They're will be no light rail to solve this problem any time soon, nor any proposed Lone Star Rail service so will you please get off the train bandwagon politicians and VIA as the only solution to fix our transit system. So will anyone at VIA or the City wake up and clean up this mess up?  Probably not because like the rest of San Antonio, they must think that everyone who rides VIA are just losers and well we don't deserve a speedy ride at all. Like it or not, downtown is VIA's main transit center, and if people trying to get to work can't connect to their other routes and forced to wait a whole hour for the next bus. This lack of action simply promotes the belief that VIA SUCKS and it's just better to break down a by a car.

5. Keep Buses Moving during Battle of Flowers.

Every year during the Battle of Flowers and the Fiesta Flambeau parades, VIA stops having the buses go through downtown to continue on as other routes and instead starts to have them go to downtown to certain stops to turn around cutting off passengers ability to connect to other routes.  The thing about this is that these stops are really far apart forcing many of VIA's riders to walk up to a half a mile through the parade just to get to their connecting routes.  You see you have the east side routes all coming to Bonham at E Houston, the north side routes turn around at Travis Park and finally all the west, south and southeast routes turn around at Nueva and S St Mary's.  So if you just happen to be on your way to work when these parades are going on, well chances are you'll have a good chance to become unemployed.  It's these days that forces hostage users like me to think, it's time for me to break down and buy a car.  And since you couldn't count on VIA for getting you to your job on time, well they suck.  Over the years VIA has done nothing to fix this problem.  So now you have this wonderful transit center on the west side of Downtown, so why can't you  have all the buses that are detoured because of the parade hop on the freeways that surround downtown and continue on after they all make a  stop at the Westside Multimodal Center (WSMMC).  Having to have all of us hostage users walk considerable distances to catch a bus is just wrong especially when we're all running late, so now you have this great transit center downtown, so start putting it to good use and when the city closes off Broadway and Commerce St for the Fiesta parades, start rerouting all those buses to WSMMC so we all can catch our connecting routes and be on time for work.  .

6. Make Bus Rides Free.

People in San Antonio are extremely against toll roads and with a passion because driving a car here in south Texas is considered a free thing to do.  Despite having to pay for gas, despite having to pay for insurance, and maintenance, driving is considered a free thing to do, so as I board the bus to get around San Antonio, I wonder why do I have to pay a toll?  The political leaders claim to want more people to ride public transit here, but do they really encourage it?  Of course not, they'll keep complaining about Ozone Action Days and the traffic while at the same time never consider the thing that might fix it which is to make bus rides free.

I first heard about making bus rides free when I heard about what happened in Austin during 1991 and 1992.  The problem with this is that it didn't attract the choice users like they CapMetro wanted, (people who use public transit and also have a car to drive) but instead it attracted the homeless and others who wouldn't normally ride the bus dubbed as "problem riders."  So naturally, they got rid of free bus rides.  But in Tallinn, Estonia, not to be deterred by what has happen in Austin, TX and everywhere else it was tried, they decided to keep the bus fares, however, if you happen to live in Tallinn, then you are entitled to free bus rides. Here's my question, why can't we do the same thing here in San Antonio?

How to we guarantee free bus rides to all the residence of San Antonio and not repeat the history with "problem riders" everywhere else it was tried. We keep bus fares in place, however, if you can show proof of residency like a CPS bill, a W2 form, a paycheck statement, a lease, or bank Statement in San Antonio, then you can go sign up at VIA and pay a fee of like a $60 for a full year of free bus rides, just like you would now as you buy a 31 day Big Pass for $35 but without the proof of residency.  Limit the amount of people up to 4 people at a certain address.  I guarantee that every year during tax season, people will come down to VIA and sign up and pay the $60 for a full year of free rides.  Make it a minimum of two years of residency to qualify for this service while at the same time, we keep the bus fare around for the tourist, for the homeless and others who would abuse the system or don't sign up.  I think this is a great idea so I can count on the local politicians not to endorse this.  Keep San Antonio Lame. 

Conclusion

I hear from politicians and environmentalists who drive cars all the time that we need more people to take public transit, but when these people make the clean, carbon neutral alternative hard to accomplish, only the poor will use it not because we want to, but because we have to. If the goal of the city leaders and VIA is to encourage more people to ride transit, then I have just lay out some solutions that if implemented should increase the number of choice users and help improve the current image of VIA. So will you please get off the train bandwagon politicians and VIA as the only solution to fix our transit system.  But chances are you'll never see any of these improvements at all because from what I have seen over the years from the inaction of our politicians and the actions of VIA have said to the citizens of San Antonio that you should buy a car. And guess what, we're doing just that.

Images:
33-2: A picture of E Commerce St at Bowie looking west showing all the cars trying to get parking at the Rivercenter Mall.

Advice on Improving VIA Part I

I wrote before how VIA sucks back in August, and ask anyone who takes the bus, on a daily basis for they'll agree with the sentiment. It's not really VIA's fault that they suck. Roughly 80% of the the reasons they suck are things they have no control over such as the fact that they have to serve a very large spread out city and they only receive 1/2¢ sales tax to pay to operate the system. Compare that to Dallas, Houston and Austin which receive a full cent sales tax, VIA have to be thrifty with their cash. They are unable to operate in places like Live Oak, Hollywood Park, Helotes, Windcrest and other independent municipalities that just don't want to pay the sales tax and they just don't like public transit at all. They also have to comply with the American With Disabilities Act and the Federal Transit Administration which means that they have to pick up any wheelchair even though the bus is full and running late. 

The 20% that VIA has control over such as bus stop location, park-n-ride location, types of buses they use every day, how they collect fare. It is this 20% that VIA can work on fixing and this is where my advice comes in.  So for the new VIA board chair, Hope Andrade, here are my suggestions to fix the image of your failing bus service.  Yes your bus drivers are nice and I know a few.  Yes you have the best mechanics in North America and how you pay for them is WONDERFUL, but in the end, that is only doing so much.

1. Put Connecting Bus Stops Closer Together.

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On some of it's routes, they do a terrible disservice on where they locate bus stops.  This is a big problem mainly on the Looper 550/551.   I pointed this out in my Streetcar series, Streetcar Part I, VIA Sucks when I pointed out the fact on how the 28 and 515 bus stop #16838 is nearly a quarter of a mile away from the connecting route of the 550 bus stop #96897. (For the record, I mistook bus route number for I always get confused on which number of the 550/551 Looper is going.)  For some reason, VIA feels it necessary to discriminate against the hostage users (my term for transit dependent people) on my side of town.  This is not the only bus stop, for the connecting bus stop of the 551 was recently moved from the traffic island on WW White and Rigsby (Image 32-1) and was moved south to the Hold Caterpillar Training Center.(Image 32-2)  Yes TxDOT recently repaved the sidewalks on this part of WW White, but now this bus stop is further from places where people go to such as the 99 Cent Only Store and the CPS Energy bill paying center. (Image 32-3)  Why they couldn't put this bus stop just pass the Burger King is beyond me, (Image 32-3) but as the actions of VIA speak louder than words, they obviously saying that you should buy a car so you don't have to worry where they locate the bus stops. 

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This isn't the only bus stop like this for the 550/551 Looper Bus Stops are notoriously placed far away from connecting routes especially along the frontage rd of Loop 410.  This is one of the reason why the majority of the hostage users in San Antonio considers VIA to suck.  I understand that sometime you cannot get the bus stop where you would want it in the first place, but that doesn't mean that you should give up on not striving for good location and keep the walking distance down to a minimum between connecting bus stops because if the goal of VIA is to keep Paratransit usage down, then keeping the bus stops far apart will only encourage those who qualify for Paratransit to use it more often.  VIA also wants more people to ride their buses, well when San Antonio sidewalks suck, (#sasidewalkssuck) having those bus stops to where they don't have to walk as far just makes sense.

This is not the only example for they're plenty of examples on the 550/551 Looper, all across town. The worse being able to connect from the Looper to the VIA PRIMO, 100 route at Wonderland Mall of the Americas.  Please fix that one before you tackle the ones along Loop 410.

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2. Transit Center Locations.

VIA has a mix history when it comes to transit center locations.  For this reporting, I will also include clusters of bus stops like Naco Pass.  The Transit Centers they got right and put in the right places are Kel-Lac, Mainland, Walmart at 281 and Loop 1604, North Star, and the Walmart at Rigsby and 410.  The ones they got in the wrong places are Madla, Naco Pass, and Randolph. I'll just won't talk about Crossroads, for VIA is considering to get rid of it and move it closer to the Primo Station on Fredricksburg Rd near Crossroads BLVD. I also will not be talking about the Medical Center Transit Center and Ingram for I have mix feelings about them unless someone asks me to in a future post. And from my understanding, VIA is about to make mistakes on it's future transit centers such as the one planned for Brooks City Base and Stone Oak. 

What Via Got Right

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Hostage users like myself depend on the bus to be able to get to the grocery store, to get to work and to be able to go to other places to run errands.  When VIA chose the location for the Kel-Lac Transit Center, (Image 32-4) they located it in the best possible spot, right next to a neighborhood, and right next to a Shopping Center where K-mart and Handy Andys use to be. Today the shopping center has several shops including a Family Dollar and a flea market. It's better than the old location between US 90 Access Rd and the Freeway which is pretty much in the middle of nowhere. Kudos to VIA for working out a deal so the buses could use the backside of this shopping center for a quick way through back to Military Dr.  I can only hope that the owner of this shopping center will improve upon the location and turn it into a mix use area with apartments, and maybe even a grocery store like there use to be.  Also I bet that VIA is actually adding value to this property.  So if they're paying increase property tax to the County and the City because of Kel-Lac, then shouldn't that increase amount that the property is paying go to VIA? That is how they use to fund transportation, not by a user fee, but by a Land Value Added Tax.

The North Star Transit Center replaced the old bus stops on Rector, and although those bus stop shelters still exist, they at least placed this Transit Center right in the middle of the action.  Due to height changes in the terrain, it is somewhat cut off from from the mall.  But due to TxDOT's improvements to the sidewalks in this area, it's now a better place to walk, and you can still access the mall from the transit center location by either walking, or catching a bus to the old bus stops on Rector. Although VIA could work on shortening the distance one must walk to the mall from this location, for the most part, it's properly located so one can access nearly all of the businesses on foot both inside and outside loop 410 all be it, a somewhat of a distance to walk.

Also the cluster of Bus Stops at Walmarts such as Mainland, 281 At Loop 1604, and Rigsby At Loop 410 are also good choices as well.  Now I'm not a big fan of Walmart, but when your grocery stores are limited to only two which are HEB and Walmart, and when you live with out a car like I do, (hostage user) your glad that the bus stops right next to the store instead of being at the edge of the parking lot along the stroad.

What VIA Got Wrong

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The transit centers that VIA got wrong are Madla, Naco Pass, and Randolph.  These transit centers are located away from places where people want go. In Madla's case, (Image 32-5) it located away from South Park Mall, it's located away from the apartments on S Zarzamora, and there just happens to be a fence on Cantrell Dr blocking access to the neighborhood from the transit center.  Now it just happens to be in a perfect spot for a future train station for the Lone Star Rail, however, I will stand by my opinion, it is simply a study collecting dust and there will be no train station at this location ever.  If VIA is ever to improve service on the South Side around South Park Mall, they better put it in a better location, like in South Park Mall's parking lot.  

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Randolph Park And Ride has a history. The buses that serve this place was once located at Windsor Park Mall, now the home of Rackspace.  Back in 1992, (maybe I got this year wrong) a terrible murder took place there.  A man waiting for the bus to go home just had 40 cents in his pocket, the bus fare amount back then.  Another man came along and in the process of robbing him, killed him for not having any money on him except 40 cents.  It was this tragedy that prompted VIA to move the transit center to it's current location at I-35 and Loop 410. (Image 32-6)  People don't know, but the neighborhoods around Windcrest are very dangerous neighborhoods. What VIA got wrong at this location was where they put the parking lot, and where they put the bus shelter.  In a perfect world, the transit shelter would be located next to the intersection of Randolph Blvd and Crestway Dr, while the parking lot would be located next to the interstate. But no, they had to do it the other way so people would have to walk farther.  I don't think that the designers of this place were thinking about walking in the July heat, but I can only hope that today's designers, architects, and engineers will take into account that walking long distances in a 100 degrees heat is a no go for everyone. Other locations could have been sought out such as Perrin Beitel and Loop 410, but no matter.

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Now Naco Pass (Image 32-7) is another failure for it is located far away from the businesses such as HEB, Walgreens and the Walmart around the intersection of Thousand Oaks and Nacogdoches.  The problem is that this cluster of bus stops is that it is located behind a bowling alley at Uhr Ln and Naco Pass.  Maybe one day, VIA can forgo this location and put this cluster closer to the intersection of Thousand Oaks at Nacogdoches, but until then, we hostage users are just going to have to suffer, either wait an hour for a bus going to the proper place, or walk to these places.
 

Future Transit Centers

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They're many new transit centers and park-n-rides planned all across San Antonio and Bexar County. One such transit center is being proposed for Brooks City Base.(Image 32-8)  If VIA want to improve it's image, they better located this transit center at the intersections of Goliad and SE Military, or at City Base landing and SE Military.  It should be quite obvious why it should be located here, because if it's located further into Brooks, then it will simply be cutting off people from where they want to go, like the HEB, the Walmart Supercenter, the Best Buy and even the Target.  The same rules should also go for the future transit centers of Stone Oak, Beorne, and even New Braunfels. Kel-Lac should be the example that VIA strives towards, connecting their patrons to the place that they need to go to.  Transit centers are there to connect multiple bus routes at one location.  They do a better job when they also are able to connect to places that people need to go.

So far what I have written should tell you that we're not just transit users, but we're pedestrians and people just don't like to walk very far.  So closing the distances between bus stops and where people want to go should be a goal for future transit centers and connecting bus stops. This blog is getting pretty long, so I leave the other suggestions in my next blog post in two weeks, so until then, enjoy.  

Images:

32-1: A Google Street View of the former location of the 551 Bus Stop at Rigsby showing by accident where the 30 bus stop is Viewing North.

32-2: Current location of the 551 bus stop showing it to be farther away from Rigsby viewing North

32-3: A Google Satellite Map showing where bus stops where, and are currently and where some business are where people need to go.

32-4: A Google Satellite Map showing where the Current and old Kel-Lac transit center are at US 90 and Military Dr.

32-5: A Google Map showing the location and how things are cut off from Madla Transit Center on the South Side of Town.  I didn't choose the Satellite Map because I wanted to show the walking distance from a random address in the neighborhood next to the transit center and how it's pretty much cut off from everything.

32-6: A Google Satellite Map of Randolph Park-n-Ride showing where the Transit Shelter and the parking should have been placed. 

32-7: A Google Satellite Map of Naco Pass Showing how it is poorly located.

32-8: A Google Satellite Map of Brooks City Base Showing the future failure of VIA's future Transit Center.

Streetcar Part I, VIA Sucks.

Via isn't the most popular at all, so it comes to no surprise that once again, San Antonio said no to the streetcar.  Yet the reason for that is simple, we don't trust Via to do the right thing and they do things that just suck.

On Thursday, July 24, a picture popped up in my Facebook feed of a Bus that crashed into a house.  I heard about an accident on Ceralvo and naturally I knew it had to be the 66.  But I wasn't aware of the bus actually running into the house until my friend posted a picture on a friend selfie waiting for the 100 at Crossroads.  When I saw this picture, I realize this is the best representation of the long history this city has had with the transit agency.  A Bus crashing into a house because of the idiot car and SUV driver from San Antonio causing the problems we face daily. (Image 17-1)

17-1

It was the car that didn't see a stop sign and plowed into a SUV and then hit a bus barreling on by.  To me, the car represented all those who think the solution to public transportation is everyone owning a  car, which was more concerned with driving and making sure everyone else in San Antonio drives.  It hits an SUV which represented ignorance of transportation issues and how it effects his life.  Since the SUV is a driver himself in turn reacted with the drivers ideals and push forth the removal of the alternative transportation thus making Via seem like the villain.  This picture is a metaphor representing San Antonio's feeling towards Via and alternative transportation in general and the result you see is the reaction of the supporters of those choosing those alternatives.  If the transportation choice ain't for cars, then my golly it sucks.  And lets face it, Cyclist, Pedestrians, and Transit users are treated badly in the Alamo City. 

The Average San Antonion feels that Via sucks overall.  Even though some improvements have come, it's still sucks to wait outside in the afternoon sun or during a downpour waiting for a bus.  Riding it also sucks, I can drive far faster to my destination than a Via bus getting me there on a toilet seat. And worse of all, the lineup didn't make a stop at the bus stop for which I rang the bell, but the kept on driving letting me off a mile away from the bus I needed to get off at.  That's how many feel about Via, a system that sucks, that when they finally get a car, they're glad they ditch it.

17-2

Now I'm a supporter of Via overall.  I, unlike the rest of San Antonio, understand that Via is constrained by laws, budget woes, and a city not built with a street grid in mind.  But like the bus crashing into the house, Via, even you make me wonder sometimes why the fuck am I stick my neck out for you.  You see, a week ago or so, I saw this on my twitter feed (Image 17-2) of Via asking people how could you get people to ride who normally don't ride?  In the transit world, these customers are called "choice users"  and when you  have a high number of these type of user using your transit system, then your doing something right.  Via has a low number of these users because well, they suck. The users that are force to use public transit is something I dubbed "hostage users."  Either you ride Via, or you stay at home, that's what it's like being a hostage user and I've been one most of my life. 

We'll here's my advice, and just like the advice I've given in my last posting on Hemisfair, these solutions don't cost a lot of money and here they are....

1. Put Bus Stops down in closed off areas:  For the longest time, If you tried to catch a bus to Randolph Park and Ride on Walzem, chances are you'll would be walking a mile or two just to reach a bus stop.  Windcrest use to have Via services, then they removed the sales tax that supported that service.  Via's response was to remove all the bus stops on the Windcrest side of Walzem.  Since the redo of Walzem, only two bus stops are still gone, the one at the Starbucks and the one that is across Walzem from the Starbucks.  If we're not careful, the same thing is about to happen On Jackson Keller and Blanco Rd which border Castle Hills. I can only hope that Via doesn't repeat history but knowing how history is, I can't help but worry.  Funny how Via isn't mentioning this to any of it's riders when it talks about Castle Hills.  I wish they would also put some bus stops along 281 on the Hill Country Village Side, but then again, they can't because Via Sucks. 

2.  Have the Line-ups stop at all the bus stops:  Bus Driver 9295 loves to miss stops that the other drivers just stop at.  His excuse is that there's a rule that prevents him from stopping at bus stops that don't have his number.  Well I don't see no 9-10 numbers on any of the bus stops along the 9-10 lineup routes.  Now I see 9 bus stops, 10 bus stops, 9 & 10 Bus stops,  9/ 10 &14 bus stops, but no 9-10 lineup bus stops specifically.  When I have a chance to catch the 9-10 line-up from work, It normally stops at the St Mary's Street Bridge, but this guy loves to make everyone on board his bus miss their Line-up connections by bypassing the St Mary's Street Bridge bus stop and stopping at the wait spot on Commerce which by the way don't have a 9 or a 10 on that bus stop.  God forbid this bus driver 9295 ever happens to drive the 30-28, 22-24 and the 25-26 line-ups because if he's not stopping at the St Mary's Bridge, I bet he won't be stopping at the other bus stops along the way especially the Looper bus stops along WW White were people actually get off the bus when they ride the line-up.  Bus Drivers like this Keep San Antonio Lame and I wish Via would put a stop to these bus drivers doing these stupid things.

Riding the 9-10 line-up is also a mistake if your trying to catch the Looper heading to Randolph Park and Ride.  The bus drivers notoriously never make stops at the Looper Stops along the Loop 410 section of the 9-10 Line-up forcing the irate passenger to stay on the bus and catch the 14-17 Line-up.  See, Via's a great service, they make you stay on board and miss some sleep so your late to work the next day. Yet another act of stupidity that helps get people into cars.

17-3

3.  Your Bus stop Shelters suck:  Now why do they suck you ask, simple, they don't keep the sun nor the Rain out.  I don't know why you can't hire some designers who can take into account of the movement of the sun over it's course in the sky so we the "hostage users" waiting for the bus can stay out of the sun's heat. (Image 17-3)
The same with the rain, how about design new bus shelters to (get this) keep the rain out.  Think about that for a moment Via, it's raining and it's pouring, and everyone is safe and sound inside the shelter and NOT GETTING WET.  I'm a dreamer, yes but I'm not the only one. 

4.  Allow Folding Bicycles on the buses:  If you were to look up Via's Policy on Bicycles, you will see no mention of the policy of folding bicycle.  As the Racks full up, people will start to look for ways around the bike racks and start to invest in folding bicycles.  Yet knowing how some bus drivers will react to a folding bicycle is expected to be "no" answer when bring one on board.  Even these electric scooters are not allowed on the bus even though the same parts that you find in one of these scooters is the same you'll find in an electric wheelchair is beyond me.  Just another example I've experience over the years when It comes using Via.

17-4

5.  Bring your bus stops closer together:  (For the record, I mistook bus route number for I always get confused on which number of the 550/551 Looper is going.) In many places, your bus stops next to connecting routes are virtually a mile apart from each other.  A good example of this is at WW White and Southcross.(Image 17-4)  Why you can't move the 551 Bus stop to the Valero is beyond me because the connecting bus stop from the 28 & 515 is pathetic.  Why walk across that battlefield of fast moving cars, hot sun and pot holes, when you can use a sidewalk around the Valero from bus stop #16383.  But I'm not expecting Via to understand, after all, they all drive cars, not have to walk everywhere in a 100F Degree heat. This is not the only one, but there are many in the system especially when trying to connect with the Looper.

6.  Finally enforce the rules especially no.5: It's annoying to hear banging pots but even worse on the bus.  This is the most important rule in the Code Of Conduct, but it doesn't get enforced as often as it should.  The same with the no smoking rules at bus stops.  Now I know you can't enforce this rule over the entire system, but you could at least do it at major bus stops downtown. 

The Smart things Via Does:  Now Via does some thing really smart such as not outsourcing it's fixed route bus operations to a corporation such a First Transit, Veolia and such.  It's the main reason why Via has some pretty good and friendly drivers that serve San Antonio and also is the main reason Via boast  that it gets more bang for it's buck unlike the other transit systems in Texas.  What Via and the Rest of San Antonio need to understand that these corporations rob from the communities that they are hired to serve and pay their employees basically minimum wage.  It's the opposite with some of the Paratransit operations because Via does outsource some of the operations to a third party providing complaint after complaint to Via about lousy service and miss pickups stranding the most vulnerable in our community.  If Via wants better paratransit services, how about take ownership of the operations yourself and watch you guys save money in the long run.  Great bus/paratransit operators should be rewarded, not punished for doing a good job with low pay.
 
San Antonio believes that you get all your funding through the fare box and not Sales Tax.  They also fail to realize that most of the state and federal money you guys get go to bus stops, infrastructure and vehicles.  You guys rarely mention this simple little fact on your buses and to the determent of your approval rating.  So they see people riding the bus and they assume that you should have lots of money and should be able to add more bus service but assume that Via just wants to suck.  Why you fail to mention that your bus service is better than Fort Worth's is beyond me because The T basically have nothing but line-up routes on Sundays from 7am to 7pm yet you fail to mention this fact to your patrons.  I believe that Fort Worth gets about a 1/2 cent sales tax to fund transit.  Also when promoting rail, you should advertise the pros of having rail transit such as not folding your stroller, bicycles coming on board, no questions asked, and fast loading and unloading of wheelchairs.  You can also point out the simple fact that having Subways and Monorail will cost more than Light rail which many San Antonions want in the first place.  And worse of all, you said that Light rail would be slower than the buses which after riding Houston Metro, DART system in Dallas, and other light rail systems that ain't true at all.  

So Lets go over all of this again.  If you want more people to ride the bus, a creation that by default encourages everyone to own a car, then my golly make it comfortable to the hostage users.  Provide plenty of places to get off and on your bus and connect to other buses easily.   Inform your riders where the funding comes from to pay for the services.   Enforce the rules that are in the code of conduct and embrace chaotic and smart like allowing bus drivers to make exceptions from the bottom up instead of your regular of orderly and dumb from the board on down.  I'm not asking for much, I'm just asking for common sense for which an organization like yours constantly fails to keep in mind.  And if you want rail in San Antonio's future, you better start treating us "hostage users" a lot more nicely. 

Go to the mysa.com story on the bus crashing into a house, well go ahead and look at those pictures. Eventually the bus is still in one piece while the car and SUV are totaled.  Goes to show you that eventually Via, bicycling and walking will again stand up tall. 

Go Fund Me Campaign

It still up, and I could use the help to be able to take some pictures I need to illustrate the my story on the Streetcar issue.  It's going to be a three part story, and the result of this trip will be posted some time around August 13th.  If you want to help me out, please help pay for my Greyhound ticket at http://www.gofundme.com/b8rmq4 


Images:
17-1:  A photo apparently posted on FB by KABB Fox 29 on the bus accident. If you know who's the owner of this photo, please contact me. 
17-2:  The tweet from Via asking what could be done to encourage more choice users.
17-3:  The bus shelter at the Corner of Broadway and MacArthur View; Looking Southeast.
17-4:  The distance between the connecting bus stops from Google Maps. 


 Up Coming Important Meetings
If you want to make a difference, please attend.

 

Lee's Creek, Joe Ward and Sunset Hills Parks Plan Review Public Meeting

When:  Wednesday, August 20, 2014 6:00 PM

Where:  Joe Ward Community Center,  435 E. Sunshine, San Antonio, TX 78228

What Should You Ask For:  The thing to ask for at this meeting are good sidewalks,  20 mile per hour speed limits and safe ways to get to the park down Hillcrest and St Cloud such as bike lanes down those stroads.  

 

Menger Creek Drainage Project Meeting

When:   Wednesday August 13, 2014 6pm to 7:30 PM

Where:  Ella Austin Community Center 'Auditorium' 1023 N Pine, 78202

What Should you Ask for:  Bike lanes on the stroads connecting the Linear Park and lots of ADA accessible ramps. 

Up Coming Bicycle Events

 

Bike Ride To Mission San Jose

When:   Saturday Morning, August 9, 2014, 9AM

Where:  818 S Flores, San Antonio, TX

Description:  A bike ride down the Mission Reach of the Riverwalk. 

 
 Cycle In-Cinema .  
When:   Every Thursday, June-August at Dusk, 8:45pm
Where:  Main Plaza, 115 N Main Ave, 78205
Description:  Out Door Movie.  

FrankenBike #51
When:   Saturday August 16, 2014  10AM to 4PM

Where:  Earn A Bike Coop ~ 2619 Guadalupe St ~ 78207

Description:  San Antonio's Bicycle Swap Meet and Flea Market

Siclovia:
When:  Sunday Sept 28, 2014 10AM to 3PM
Where: Broadway downtown
Description:  Where San Antonio returns the streets back to the  people for a few hours.  Really a great event.  More info at http://www.ymcasatx.org/siclovia