A VIA bus waits at a stop. Credit: Courtesy of VIA Metropolitan Transit

VIA’s Advanced Rapid Transit (ART) project, which would whisk riders between the airport and downtown, last week received a favorable rating from the Federal Transit Administration, a key step to the proposed route landing federal funds.

The 12-mile route would start at San Antonio International Airport and utilize 19 all-electric buses to ferry passengers down San Pedro Avenue, through downtown and Southtown, concluding on the other side of Interstate 10 at Steves Avenue.

At least half of the north-south route would feature designated bus travel lanes, which VIA hopes will reduce wait times between buses to just 10 to 15 minutes. Vehicles would make stops at 27 new transit stations.

VIA’s ART project is part of the transit authority’s Keep San Antonio Moving plan, which received initial funding when Alamo City residents voted in favor of Proposition B in November 2020.

The following year, VIA received approval from federal regulators to enter the ART north-south connection project into the Capital Investments Grant Program with hopes of receiving additional outside funding for the project.

Even though VIA’s ART project received a “Medium-High” rating from the Federal Transit Authority, it’s unclear how much additional funding the transit authority will land as part of the Capital Investments Grant Program.

It’s also unclear how federal funding for VIA’s project will affect a similar project proposal from the Alamo Regional Mobility Authority, which also aims to connect the airport and downtown via public transit.

Alamo RMA’s project recently garnered media attention after the independent agency received a bid from Elon Musk’s Boring Co., which submitted a $300 million bid to transport people downtown in Teslas via underground tunnels. That proposal received favorable reviews from the Alamo RMA.

VIA hopes to complete its north-south project sometime in 2027. Alamo RMA hasn’t yet released a timetable for its project.

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This article appears in Feb 9-22, 2022.

Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...