Connect SA

10/11/2020

Salado Creek Greenway boardwalk near LBJ Park has been repaired and is open again.

07/16/2020

https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/San-Antonio-mayor-VIA-officials-strike-a-deal-on-15411790.php

After bitter conflict over the fate of a 1/8-cent sales tax, Mayor Ron Nirenberg and VIA Metropolitan Transit leaders have struck a compromise that would let them both have it — if voters so choose.

06/10/2020

“We are paused,” Nirenberg told me. “The kind of earthquake that’s shaken our city economically has revealed some fault lines. Now, we have to assess the fundamentals.”

Nirenberg said the VIA Metropolitan Transit Authority may need to rethink some of its strategies, which could mean concentrating more of its services in a smaller geographic area where ridership is strongest. https://www.bizjournals.com/

Moving forward, Mayor Ron Nirenberg says VIA will have to reconfigure its approach.

05/26/2020

The federal government could definitely help scale UV sanitizing of our public transit systems.

The agency in charge of public transit in New York City announced a pilot program using ultraviolet light lamps to kill Covid-19 on buses and trains and at stations.

05/25/2020

Pop-up Siclovias sounds like a practice that should continue after this crisis. "With historically low traffic and residents spending more time at home, the coronavirus pandemic has sparked a nationwide appreciation for – and increased use of – sidewalks, parks, and trails. But as those amenities get crowded, it gets harder to maintain social distancing, so San Antonio is joining cities such as New York and Denver in experimenting with closing off streets to cars to allow cyclists and pedestrians to take over."

City officials will temporarily close two Westside residential streets to through traffic as soon as early June, making room for more pedestrian and bicycle activity.

05/18/2020

ConnectSA Tri-Chair Henry Cisneros writes that in the wake of this pandemic, San Antonio should be committed to action that eliminates our high rate of poverty.

It’s time to bring together all the key organizational leaders who drive our anti-poverty agenda in order to re-imagine, reorganize, and reinvigorate a 21st century attack on the pernicious poverty that holds our city back.

04/20/2020

A plan to put the matter before voters in November now seems unlikely, although officials say nothing has been decided because leaders’ attention is directed at getting the novel coronavirus outbreak under control and the economy back on its feet.

04/14/2020

From our friends at DisABILITYsa:
GROCERY PICK-UP:
Good News for Older Adults and People with Disabilities

The PRESA Transportation Coalition (Presa Community Center, Ride Connect Texas, St. Gregory the Great, Greater Randolph Area Service Program, and Kirby Senior Center) and VIA Metropolitan Transit VIAtrans have stepped up to provide rides for curbside grocery pickup for older adults and individuals with disabilities.

* During the COVID19 alert, PRESA will provide grocery curbside pick-up rides to any elderly or people with disabilities, between the hours of 8 a.m. and 3 p.m., Monday - Friday. Once you have scheduled your grocery pick-up time, you may then contact PRESA Transportation Coalition at 210-532-5554 to schedule your pick-up ride.

* Current VIAtrans customers can also order curbside grocery pick-up and schedule their ride through VIAtrans at 210-362-5050. Please make your curbside reservation with the grocery store before scheduling a trip on VIAtrans. PRESA Transportation Coalition and VIAtrans are active partners in the Successfully Aging and Living in San Antonio (SALSA) collaborative an initiative of the San Antonio Area Foundation focusing on creating a community where older adults are respected, thrive and enjoy connected lives.

03/19/2020

Public Transit is an ongoing vital service like our airlines only without a fee every time you bring on a grocery bag. Also, they don’t make you take off your shoes and stand in a line. 😉
We need our public service transit to survive after these outbreaks.

Leaders in the Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio areas are already analyzing how fewer fares and drops in sales tax will affect them.

03/09/2020

Anthony Longoria is one of many Southtown and downtown service workers who depend on VIA Metropolitan Transit’s late-night bus service to get home. But the service only takes him so far.

02/25/2020

Expanding VIA’s ride share experiment, VIA Link, is one of the ConnectSA recommendations. Public ride share is the future and people have told ConnectSA they want it. LYFT-like service delivers you to the front door of your destination for price of a daily bus pass. This is especially useful in neighborhoods where people are aging at home, the Medical Center, areas with concentrated employers, and far-flung areas.

The app-driven, curb-to-curb van service — now only available on the Northeast Side — helps neighborhoods with sporadic bus service. And it costs the same as a regular VIA bus.

02/19/2020

‪ says we have an Aquifer solution. We can protect our water and build infrastructure for the future. “We are on the brink of an era of mobility.” ConnectSA can move us forward. ‬