Alamo Plaza was full of cupcakes and mariachi music as VIA Metropolitan Transit and Visit San Antonio celebrated its first year of the three VIVA bus routes which connect cultural and historic hubs around San Antonio’s urban core.
Joined in front of the Alamo by Councilman Roberto Treviño (D1) and Visit San Antonio’s Director of Partner & Community Relations, Richard Oliver, VIA President and CEO Jeffrey Arndt introduced what he called “a brand new tradition for San Antonio” in the VIVA routes and their influence.
“Downtown is everyone’s downtown,” said Arndt. “[VIVA] serves the heart of the city.”
The program includes VIVA Culture, Missions, and Centro routes. VIVA Culture (Route 11) goes from the McNay Art Museum south on Broadway to the Blue Star Arts Complex. VIVA Missions (40) goes from Alamo Plaza south to Missions Concepción, San José, and San Juan. VIVA Centro (301) goes east-west from Centro Plaza on North Frio Street to Sunset Station past I-37, and is the most popular of the three routes with a frequency of 10 to 15 minutes.
“In its first year [VIVA] had over 360,500 passenger trips, and the various businesses and locations along the route have expressed appreciation and have asked how we can let more people know about it. So, we plan to build on those partnerships and continue to increase awareness,” Arndt said.
“These routes make it very simple to connect to the large number of resources within our urban core,” said Arndt, adding that the routes orbit fittingly around Alamo Plaza, the epicenter of visitor activity. “It gives you access to food, drink, culture, and history.”
Arndt also noted VIA’s recent expansions which include 270 new buses, 1,000 new bus stop shelters, free WiFi aboard vehicles, and the new goMobile app.
“I believe every successful city must have a thriving downtown,” Treviño said. “VIVA creates that connection.”
Treviño identified the new routes as an important service to both tourists and locals in helping provide easy access throughout downtown and touched upon links to the forthcoming festivities for San Antonio’s 300th anniversary.
“We hope to work it into Tricentennial celebrations … to use these proven resources to celebrate how our city’s history has been shaped,” Treviño said. “Through investment, innovation, and collaboration, VIA and their partners will be a part of [the Tricentennial celebration’s] success.”
Oliver spoke about VIA’s role in embracing the Spanish-colonial Missions’ UNESCO World Heritage designation with the VIVA Missions route which improves the experience of the city’s 34 million annual visitors.
“A lot of the time it’s more about the journey than the destination … and that’s one of the things that VIA provides,” said Oliver, crediting the bus lines with delivering a level of comfort and ease to tourists that encourages them to return.
“Here’s the reason that people come back time and time again to San Antonio: we treat people like family. We let them know they’re a part of our heart,” Oliver said, referencing VIVA’s slogan “Explore the Heart of San Antonio” and the heart-shaped hand fans given to attendees. “We’re a place of heart.”
After the remarks, Arndt invited a procession of mariachis, led by VIA bus driver Jesse Quintero Jr., who has been with VIA for 52 years, to sing happy birthday to the VIVA routes. As the festive music ensued, a group of VIA employees gave out brightly frosted cupcakes to attendees.
“We’re looking forward to another year of connecting our city through public transportation,” Arndt said. “That’s what VIA is. It’s that pathway to the people and places we love in San Antonio.”
The 11 route to Blue Star/Alamo Plaza is still mostly vacant every day…
There’s a number of weaknesses to the fledgling VIVA routes and services that I note and that make them a pale comparison to the highly successful trolley bus ‘streetcar ‘network that VIA operated for over 20 years (in place for the 275th anniversary of the city) and that was a key part of San Antonio’s identity and urban tourism success until just recently.
There are still rave Yelp reviews about VIA’s legacy trolley bus system online (none for VIVA yet) that help to document some of the history of this key public transit system that Yelpers and I have described as affordable, legible, easy and fun to use as a local or first-time visitor. In contrast:
– the current VIVA route numbering makes little sense to an outsider (11a-b, 40 and 301) and the informal route naming is kind of offensive to locals. Who says San Antonio’s ‘culture’ just exists in a thin north-south corridor of downtown (extending outside of the city)? The VIVA numbering and naming of the last year replaces an easy to understand and less biased color coded line system (I remember at least red, blue, green and yellow trolley bus lines in San Antonio) that circulated throughout greater downtown and relied on buildings and key public spaces as route icons.
– the current VIVA scheduling makes little sense (and have more caveats than prescription drug advertisements). I can’t think of downtown services in other cities that run 9am-8pm some ways and 8pm-11pm other ways (the VIVA 11 route) or just 8:30am-5:30pm (the VIVA 40 route). In contrast, all past VIA trolley buses started at 7:00am weekdays and some ran until 12:30am.
– VIVA services continue to use Alamo Plaza as a major transfer point for all three lines, including those that utilize large and heavy buses (the new 11 and 40 routes); previously only VIA’s smaller and lighter trolley buses (the red and blue lines) were allowed to drive on this sensitive area of historic downtown San Antonio. This is after Council voted unanimously earlier this year to close Alamo Plaza to traffic (as part of the approved design concept) to help preserve the Alamo and as recommended by various public space and heritage consultants to the City in recent years. What’s it going to take?
– Some of the current VIVA stop locations are inconvenient if not dangerous and possibly in violation of federal law. For example, the daytime VIVA pick-up and drop-off point for Pearl Brewery on Broadway (11 route) seems to violate ADA requirements at least based on sidewalk widths and unobstructed access to bus waiting and boarding areas. There’s no safe pedestrian crossing at Pearl Parkway (hence the temporary ‘Frogger’ installation on this section of Broadway over 18 months ago, as covered by the Rivard Report) and VIA bus stops on this part of Broadway have no shelter. I don’t understand why VIVA and possibly other VIA services (route 10 etc.) cannot be routed to the Pearl Brewery VIA stops on Ave. A or similar throughout the day, although these newer stops on Ave. A also require seating and shelters that do not block the sidewalk. How can we celebrate the Pearl Brewery as an ‘urban’ success given how shockingly poor public transit and related pedestrian access is to the site currently? Transit and pedestrian improvements are needed on Broadway but also on Ave. A and Josephine before SA300 to help all visitors access the Pearl Brewery.
– Current VIVA service obscures views into particularly the larger buses (used for the 11 and 40 routes), lending to the sense that the vehicles are mainly empty (as others and I have observed to be true as riders) and difficult to access, including by cutting off interaction between riders and street life. In a city looking to build or restore lost bus ridership, such intense limo tinting and graphical wrapping seems a poor choice. Newer VIVA buses (used for the 40 and 11 routes) also seem to have lost the audible cue of the bell clanging trolley buses that helped visitors and locals to identify the service (while also helping to reinforce the impression that the overall trolley bus network was speedy, frequent and fun). The new VIA seems to neglect the importance of soundscape on board and off.
– VIVA services currently neglect San Antonio’s West Side as well as the near northwest corridor, areas which apparently generate the highest volume of VIA ridership. Blue Star Arts Complex is a point where the current VIVA 11 and 40 routes should overlap (like Hemisfair and Pearl Brewery, it is a site of growing concern about parking), and the 11 service should also be extended to Centro Plaza (via Alamo and Frio) to connect with the VIVA 301 ‘Centro’ route and City parking resources on Frio and to better serve VIA riders. In addition, a new line of VIVA service is needed from Centro Plaza to reach at least some of the cultural resources of the historic West Side including Ave. Guadalupe and Elmendorf Lake Park (2 miles from Centro) but also San Pedro Springs Park and Five Points, including anticipating downtown San Pedro Creek trail work to be completed in the next months.
– VIVA services currently neglect Tower of Americas (one of the City’s top visitor destinations) and the Institute of Texan Cultures (our downtown Smithsonian affiliate); in contrast, this eastern quadrant of Hemisfair Park had frequent VIA service until at least 10:30pm (12:30am on weekdays) as part of the past yellow trolley bus line service. There’s the potential to re-route the current VIVA 301 route and other VIA routes slightly to improve services to Hemisfair by adding shaded bus stops to the newly configured Tower of Americas Way circular drive to the east entrance to the Convention Center/ Tower of Americas as well as near the Institute of Texan Cultures (similar to the curbside transit service the ITC/Texas Pavilion enjoyed in 1968). These minor improvements would help to realize some of the transit and pedestrian accessibility suggested with the current (2012) Hemisfair Park Master Plan and used to promote Hemisfair Park revitalization work.
What I suggest would be fairly simple to implement before SA300 and consistent with feedback about the new VIVA network that I have heard from other riders throughout the year, including first-time visitors to San Antonio. The current year-old VIVA system is far from ‘proven’ and problems, gaps and the sense of declining or struggling visitor transit services (compared with our past trolley bus network and offerings in other cities) have been noted by the public and contrary to the reporting above.
Regardless, it is dismaying to read a ‘news’ article that simply celebrates a year of VIVA service while not exploring how VIVA might be improved before SA300, including noting where current services pose risks and lost opportunities for San Antonio. This includes based on the legacy of success offered by VIA’s past downtown trolley bus network but also observing urban transitions since VIVA launched, including:
– planned downtown San Pedro Creek trail work to be completed in the next months (and the need for new on-street VIA and BCycle services to support this work, including potentially on Flores and Martin);
– a recent unanimous Council vote to close Alamo Plaza between Houston and Commerce to all traffic (in concept), based on preservation concerns and interests;
– the completed and expanding Pearl Brewery site (and the increasing hassle of parking near there as well as the dangerous conditions for VIA riders and other pedestrians accessing the site, including as noted with past Rivard Report coverage);
– the recently completed Elmendorf Lake Park revitalization (about two miles from downtown, roughly the distance separating Alamo Plaza from Pearl Brewery);
– recent changes to Tower of Americas Way in the eastern quadrant of Hemisfair Park (and the failure to date to achieve the transit and pedestrian access improvements envisioned with the 2012 master plan for particularly the eastern and southern quadrants of the park);
– new housing and commercial development near Blue Star Arts Complex on Alamo and Probandt (and the increasing hassle of parking near there).
Personally, I don’t think any city can match San Antonio in the friendliness of our bus drivers, as the article stresses. But overall this fluff writing (along with the string of recent feel-good VIVA marketing events this summer) obscures where urban San Antonio has had much success and growth in the last year (Pearl Brewery, Blue Star Arts/Probandt, Elmendorf Lake Park, San Pedro Springs Park-Five Points, Hemisfair Park East-St Paul Square, etc) but desperately needs improved (and in some cases restored) VIA visitor/entertainment bus services.
It’s important to note the statement that the 301 Centro VIVA route has been the most popular’/ successful of the three VIVA routes this year. This is more or less the legacy red trolley bus route that still relies on the small body ‘streetcar’ bus form that San Antonio has operated successfully since 1983. It runs frequently (every 10-15 minutes from 7am until 11pm weekdays), the drivers are friendly, visitors and locals love it, and the bell still clangs. The model could be updated (there was the chance to go electric mini-bus) and the results of the first year of VIVA indicate it should not have been thrown out.
VIA should do everythingthey can this year to support and build from the success of this legacy service before SA300, including by making Centro Plaza a transfer point between VIVA 301 and VIVA 11 routes (and making Blue Star / Probandt a transfer point between VIVA 11 and VIVA 40 routes) while also launching new VIVA West Side service originating from Centro Plaza. The amenity and usefulness of Centro Plaza could also be improved with music as well as a cafe and other commercial services and a Bcycle station (as planned in 2013).
The chronic lack of investment in visitor amenities at Centro Plaza (no BCycle, commercial offerings, food, events, music, Amigo Ambassadors, etc) since the plaza opened in 2015 is wearing on the downtown visitors that are using VIVA services and mainly the red trolley/301 Centro route that hails there. Locals are more than willing to help enliven Centro Plaza for visitors and locals but VIA needs to recognize where there has been interest in VIVA services as well as where there’s regular VIA ridership and make efforts there.
VIVA stop and pedestrian improvement work is needed at Pearl Brewery, Hemisfair Park East (Convention Center, Tower of Americas and ITC) and Blue Star Arts / Probandt. But the continuing success of the 301 Centro/red trolley route (in spite of VIVA) also indicates that there should be a VIVA 11 link at Centro Plaza (to support that ailing route) and new VIVA service west and near northwest before SA300. A frequent shuttle between North Star Transit Hub and SAT airport would further support Centro Plaza as the downtown visitor transit gateway it was envisioned to be and VIVA as downtown service for ‘everyone’.