New Via Primo Express bus from U-T San Antonio to Medical Center Transit Center to downtown San Antonio (Houston: neighborhood, living in)

[phoenixmike11]

Get on the bus: VIA Primo rolls out, expected in LV by end of year - San Antonio Express-News

[Mom2Feebs]

I don't get it; is this a true Express bus? As in getting on the freeway, bypassing bus stops and just going from point A to B to C? Because that would be nice; anything else IMHO is just a waste of time and taxpayer money.

This coming from someone experienced with Houston's sometimes great, sometimes atrocious METRO.

[Azure110]

VIA Primo has its own bus stops. Living in the medical center area, I see them quite a bit.


I really hate the timing of the new traffic lights installed for these buses. I have to wait much longer now at the lights.

[Mom2Feebs]

Originally Posted by MattTx

VIA Primo has its own bus stops. Living in the medical center area, I see them quite a bit.


I really hate the timing of the new traffic lights installed for these buses. I have to wait much longer now at the lights.

I like the idea of their own stops as long as there aren't too many! lol

Hadn't thought about the lights. Ugh. That's a BRT thing I guess.

[Azure110]

Originally Posted by Mom2Feebs

I like the idea of their own stops as long as there aren't too many! lol

Hadn't thought about the lights. Ugh. That's a BRT thing I guess.

The lights take twice as long to change now. I leave the neighborhood for work on a different street now so it isn't a major deal.

I see some people get really frustrated and just go anyways. lol

[zhugeliang1]

Those are some loooooong buses! Is it supposed to shuttle people around the med center and alleviate the parking situation? One time I tried to find parking at the VA and it was impossible.

[skeet09]

Originally Posted by zhugeliang1

Those are some loooooong buses! Is it supposed to shuttle people around the med center and alleviate the parking situation? One time I tried to find parking at the VA and it was impossible.

VIA Primo is finally here - San Antonio Express-News
There is a new route (600) that is a trolley of sorts to help people park at the Med Center park and ride and to their med center destination.

[Montirob]

Originally Posted by Mom2Feebs

I don't get it; is this a true Express bus? As in getting on the freeway, bypassing bus stops and just going from point A to B to C? Because that would be nice; anything else IMHO is just a waste of time and taxpayer money.

This coming from someone experienced with Houston's sometimes great, sometimes atrocious METRO.

You could call it a "mostly express bus" . The stops are much further apart (1/2 mile, I think) and the buses have traffic signal priority (as noted above), so travel time is cut down significantly. Once VIA finally gets their prepaid boarding system working (a personal pet peeve that it isn't operational yet), the speed of loading the bus will increase.

A real world example: my neighbor works downtown at the courthouse. He said that the time to walk to our neighborhood station and get to his office was roughly equal (within just a few minutes) to the time it takes him to drive and park.

Is it as great as what they promised? No. Does it cause me to worry that the streetcar project will be dumbed down? Yes. But... considering that VIA replaced the two busiest bus routes in SA (the 91 and 92) with a single Primo route and improved the frequency and speed of service, the project was hardly a waste of taxpayer money.

[zhugeliang1]

There is a new route (600) that is a trolley of sorts to help people park at the Med Center park and ride and to their med center destination

Awesome I have to check on that as parking at the VA is a real challenge. So I guess the Primo bus is separate from that.

[Newk]

I want to request a bus route