VIA Metropolitan Transit is helping to keep San Antonio local when it comes to shopping, dining, events and entertainment this holiday season. The public transportation agency is rolling out VIA’s Holiday Special on the Blue Route, a modified route with extended hours that connects Southtown to downtown, the Alamo to Pearl, and dozens of restaurants, shops and cultural must-sees in between, from Nov. 27 through Jan. 2.
Look for VIA’s holiday-themed hybrid buses beginning on Black Friday and just in time for “Shop Small Saturday” — a day dedicated to supporting local businesses. Buses on the Blue Route will run on an extended holiday schedule, every 15 minutes, from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. on weekdays, and 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. on weekends.
Points of interest along the route include the Blue Star Arts Complex, the King William Historic District, Alamo Plaza, Rivercenter Mall, Tobin Center, the San Antonio Museum of Art, the River Walk, Pearl, and dozens more.
The route will feature three new, temporary stops, traveling down Augusta Street, Brooklyn Avenue, and Broadway to Pearl. Riders may enjoy holiday activities in the downtown-to-South Broadway corridor in one convenient ride.
For more about VIA’s Holiday Special on the Blue Route, click here.
*Top Image: Map of the Blue Route. Courtesy image.
The original concept of the streetcar was to connect people north-south including places people would want to go. Those would include Southtown businesses, the Alamo, the Riverwalk, the Museums along Broadway/downtown, the Pearl plus all the residential being built in River North Midtown. I hope we support this route. However, what about calling it the River Route since it tracks the river so closely…or would that be too creative?
I think an important distinction here is that the average wait time between bus rides is 15 min instead of 30 min.
Really glad it available and hope ride schedules of that nature become more frequent for VIA. Maybe even permanent *crosses fingers*.
Hopefully we can get it to go all the way to the McNay.