Work starts next month on VIA Metropolitan Transit’s biggest construction project to date — a system of corridors designed to get riders faster to their destination using dedicated bus lanes, prioritized traffic signals, and more frequent pickups and dropoffs.

VIA’s Rapid Green Line, the first corridor in VIA’s Advanced Rapid Transit system, is a north-south route that will take shape along San Pedro Avenue, from the San Antonio International Airport down to Steves Avenue near the historic missions.

City and VIA officials gathered Friday at Roosevelt Park for a ceremonial groundbreaking on the Green Line, also a key part of VIA’s Better Bus Plan.

That plan, guest speakers said, is an ongoing, multi-pronged, longterm effort to improve public transportation and support San Antonio’s growing population. 

Making one of his final public appearances as the city’s top elected leader, Mayor Ron Nirenberg said developing VIA’s ART system is the result of years of complex and oft-times passionate discussions among VIA, local elected leaders and community members.

“I know most of you who have lived in San Antonio and observed the debates about transportation in San Antonio for generations never thought we would be at this moment, but here we are,” Nirenberg said. 

“And in my final days as mayor of San Antonio, there is no place I would rather be than with you today, celebrating such a truly amazing project, and one that will impact and change the trajectory of our great city,” he added.

VIA officials said Green Line service will resemble a commuter rail, featuring several stations that will offer accessible platform boarding, multi-bus door loading, and ticketing kiosks. 

Each bus on the Green Line, like today’s standard buses, will accommodate riders with bicycles, and passengers using mobility devices. But every bus will also have more doors through which more riders can board or depart quickly. 

With Green Line service running 4 a.m. to 1 a.m. daily, a bus will be scheduled to arrive at each station every 10 minutes on weekdays, and every 15 minutes on weekends. 

Development of VIA’s Green Line will involve: new buses, more than 10 new pedestrian crossings, 30-plus intersections with upgraded and synchronized signals, more than six miles of new or repaired sidewalks, and 100-plus new or replaced storm water drains with other drainage improvements.

According to VIA, Green Line construction will begin simultaneously near Roosevelt and Steves avenues and at U.S. 281 and Isom Road, with road work set for completion in late 2027, and service kicking off in early 2028. 

Altogether, the Green Line is estimated to cost $480 million, and is partially funded by federal grants and a one-eighth cent sales tax that VIA will begin receiving in 2026.

VIA is slated to build a similar Rapid Silver Line, a west-east route linking critical stops between the West and East sides, with construction beginning in 2027. 

VIA board Secretary Athalie Malone, who is visually impaired and relies on bus transportation, said the Green and Silver Lines will improve public transit in San Antonio’s urban core.

“We will be able to get around quicker, and get to more places faster, and get to our jobs more easily with much more accessibility,” she said.

Jon Gary Herrera, VIA’s president and CEO, said VIA and its project partners will aim to be proactive and publicly provide construction information, with 30-day notice going to residents and merchants ahead of road work in a specific area.

“We have been taking some great lessons not only from across the United States, but great lessons that we see here in San Antonio on how we’re going to be actively communicating the construction impact along these corridors,” Herrera said. 

“We want to take communications to the corridor, and not expect (people along) the corridor to come to us for communications.”

District 1 City Council member Sukh Kaur, who was recently elected to a second term, said many of her constituents who work and live along the Green Line will be positively affected by its development with improved transit services. 

She added that her office is eager to help VIA keep constituents updated on construction. 

“I’ve been asking (VIA) every few weeks to see if the construction manager at-risk has the timeline yet, because as soon as they have the timeline, I want to be able to release it,” Kaur told San Antonio Report. 

“We are well aware of everything that’s happening, and we are going to stay lockstep with VIA.”