San Antonio (VIA) has got to have the worst bus stops... (Howe: installing, shelters)

[dakotamidnight]

Originally Posted by wellguy

dakotamidnight- Are you able to use VIA Trans?. I have heard positives and negatives about them from several people. You should not have to get off early since your bus stop is not in the correct repair. Have you contacted VIA?

I have contacted VIA and continue to do so. Mostly they just say it isn't their responsibility to maintain sidewalks & to call the city. It took me over a year of daily calling to get the sidewalk at the end of my street to have a ramp installed by the city, and I just got tired of doing it.


I don't use VIA Trans for a variety of reasons, including that travel must be scheduled in advance and it's impossible to take my 3yo with me since you must install a car seat for the child yourself. It's just easier to take regular VIA bus instead.

[smuboy86]

I do have to say the new via stops along Austin highway look great. The stops along Harry wurzbach do to. Unfortuneatly my street doesn't have curbs or sidewalks and we will never get them it seem consitering our neighborhood is 50+ years old.

[xsa210tx]

I STRONGLY encourage you all to call VIA and voice your frustrations and not just mention it on here.

If you don't call and tell them your concerns nothing will happen! Their number is 362-2020 and ask for the Customer Concerns dept!

My only mode of transportation IS the bus so it's a part of my life.

[Montirob]

Originally Posted by firstclassflyer

...but the stops on S Presa (bordering Lavaca) look like hell. No shade...one bench with garbage strewn about.

This example, unfortunately, is typical of VIA. At the end of my neighborhood we have one of the most popular stops in the whole system(Fredericksburg Rd and Mary Louise). There is but one bench, so people have been forced to stand around the landscaping which has ruined it. Since there is only one trash can, there is trash everywhere. What is VIA's response? "We are only obligated to maintain 24 inches around our stop." But the reason there is so much trash is THAT THE STOP ISN'T BIG ENOUGH.

Now not to get off the subject, but VIA wants to do Bus-Rapid-Transit down Fredericksburg. They "hope" to make these stops nicer, but it all depends on money. At a public meeting, a gentleman got up and addressed VIA. He said something like, "do it right, or this will be the last time the public will support VIA." Well said, in my opinion - if VIA wants to get serious about ridership, they need to make the experience better.

[Chaka]

Originally Posted by firstclassflyer

...but the stops on S Presa (bordering Lavaca) look like hell. No shade...one bench with garbage strewn about. If this is "improving", I'd hate to see what they were like beforehand. Yikes. That area is still a long, loooong ways away.

S Presa is a long street, and there are indeed some really lousy stops. There are also some pretty decent ones - have you seen the one of Callaghan/S Presa? Some are at "parks" (formerly plots of dirt/weeds) that the neighborhood has been cleaning up and beautifying.

One stop at a time, slowly, but yes, they are improving.

[firstclassflyer]

Originally Posted by Chaka

S Presa is a long street, and there are indeed some really lousy stops. There are also some pretty decent ones - have you seen the one of Callaghan/S Presa? Some are at "parks" (formerly plots of dirt/weeds) that the neighborhood has been cleaning up and beautifying.

One stop at a time, slowly, but yes, they are improving.

I saw the stops at Pareida (sp?) and the one next up from that...both looked like crap.

[Chaka]

Originally Posted by firstclassflyer

I saw the stops at Pareida (sp?) and the one next up from that...both looked like crap.

Yes, the one on Pereida is just a bench next to a vacant building (which is currently being demolished - Hooray!!! Finally!!!). The next one up is a gorgeous sculpture made by a local artist (he's done a bunch of work around town), his sculptures look like wood but are stone. It's well shaded and very nice. The next two down from Pereida are at former dirt lots which are now being made into small parks, still in progress.

[Chaka]

Originally Posted by smuboy86

I do have to say the new via stops along Austin highway look great. The stops along Harry wurzbach do to. Unfortuneatly my street doesn't have curbs or sidewalks and we will never get them it seem consitering our neighborhood is 50+ years old.

Well, our neighborhood is ~ 120 yrs old and we got new sidewalks a little over a year ago. Not all streets yet, but some. The neighborhood requested them and with some effort, got them put in. Another street has been fixed up (made more narrow to slow traffic, put in 'bump-outs', placed planters and made sidewalks). There's still a long ways to go (many old sidewalks are totally broken and a mess), but it's only come about by the neighborhood pressuring the city to do it. The downside was the some people with small front yards lost a little of their space but for the most part, they were happy to get the sidewalks.

[firstclassflyer]

Originally Posted by Chaka

Yes, the one on Pereida is just a bench next to a vacant building (which is currently being demolished - Hooray!!! Finally!!!). The next one up is a gorgeous sculpture made by a local artist (he's done a bunch of work around town), his sculptures look like wood but are stone. It's well shaded and very nice. The next two down from Pereida are at former dirt lots which are now being made into small parks, still in progress.

Must've been the next one down..there were no sculptures and it looked like hell. I don't drive that way very often, by design, so those are the only stops that I got a quick look at...sounds like there are many more similar VIA stops, as per MontiRob.

[TexHwyMan]

Believe it or not, things are better now than they used to be. This is from a VIA press release last year:

VIA has been installing 700 new bus shelters to make the wait for the bus a little more comfortable. Since 2006, 384 shelters have been placed at VIA bus stops, and another 24 should be installed by the first week of March.

(http://www.viainfo.net/Communication...&ArticleId=640)