The wheels on the bus go round-and-round
With record gas prices all around us, what are you doing to cope with the high cost? VIA Transit’s ridership is on the rise but what if you’ve never hopped on a bus?
Do you know where to start?
We decided to see for ourselves just how easy is it to get from point A to B.
KSAT’S Rosenda Rios, along with producer Shari were willing to take the journey. Here’s their story:
We admit, we are not regular VIA bus riders. In fact, Shari and I cannot even remember the last time we hopped on a VIA bus but we were interested in giving it a try since we too were tired of the high gas prices.
We began by logging on to VIA’s website, VIAinfo.net. We found a personal trip planner to help us map out our route, but VIA also has a number you can call for a more personalized service, which we found to be just as helpful.
The route we picked was VIA Express at University Park located at Interstate 10 beneath Loop 1604.
We decided the route based on its location, the non-stop ride to downtown and the fact it would get us to work at 7:30 in the morning. We parked our cars under the expressway, I liked that already since it would keep my car out of the hot scorching sun.
Shari and I arrived around 6:40 a.m. with a mini-camera in hand to capture our voyage.
We were surprised to find the bus stop full of people so early in the morning and mainly made of up downtown professionals.
“You can do work while on the bus,” one rider told Shari while waiting for the 6:50 a.m. bus.
The bus arrived — it seemed right on time and I paid two dollars, one for the ride into town and the second dollar would be for the cost of a transfer bus. It was standing room only and I also realized I should limit my carry one items.
I carried two bags, the camera and my faithful coffee mug, not a good idea.
Although many men offered me their seats, I decided to stand since that would give me better opportunity to visit with fellow riders. Shari took the sit-down route and enjoyed visiting with the woman next to her. Shari, like I, were enjoying visiting with everyone on board.
A quick check found riders worked all over downtown, including UTSA, the Bexar County Courthouse, City Hall and AT&T.
What was refreshing to us was that everyone knew each other, they asked about kids, home, vacations, in fact many joked that they were a VIA family.
Luis Fuentes works at AT&T and has been riding the bus for several years now.
“I love it,” he said. “$25, no cost for gas and saving on the parking downtown.”
Luis along with so many others on the bus were willing to talk to us and share their bus experience. Not only that, but they were willing to help us with any questions Shari and I had about our bus route. In fact, Luis was more than willing to get off the bus with us, show us where to catch the transfer and proceed on to his work.
Another person we met was a woman who’d been riding for almost ten years. She didn’t want to give her name but she has seen the recent changes, “It’s gone from about 15 riders to a full bus.”
Many riders used their time wisely, from reading, to listening to music, to visiting and even sleeping.
A couple of women even used the bus ride to finish putting on their make-up, however, I would not advised anyone to apply mascara while the bus is moving. But one thing that stood out in our minds is how much bus riders said they were saving on gas.
“I calculated about $2,000 a year,” said the woman who’d been riding for nearly ten years.
“Pleasantly surprised, (I) would do this again”, said another woman who told us she never rides the bus, but decided to that morning because she had jury duty.
Once downtown, both Shari and I, along with Luis, made a mad dash to our tranfer bus which was route 8. I was talking to another rider when Luis urged me to hurry up or I’d miss my transfer.
Later, I realized if we’d missed it, which others have done in the past, we would have to wait 20 to 30 minutes more to catch the next transfer bus.
Rider comments
Although everyone had wonderful things to say about riding the bus such as “best kept secret”, the common concern was safety. Apparently, some riders said there’d been vehicle break-in’s at the University Park and Ride. One rider, we were told, had his car stolen but later recovered. A couple of others had their cars broken into and wished VIA would beef up its security.
“They added lights under the expressway,” said one rider, who wished for more police presense.
We contacted VIA and they tell us they are working on beefing up security by having VIA’s security visit the area more often. Another request was to add more buses. VIA officials said with the increase of ridership, they will review all routes and “more buses may be added on some routes”.
Shari and I arrived were dropped off practially infront of KSAT right at 7:33 in the morning.
“Easy, fast, and a lot cheaper than driving,” was Shari’s comment. Not bad for first timers.
In fact, Shari and I may make it habit at least once a week.
Going home
The return to our car was a little longer. We apparently received the wrong information on when the transfer bus would pick us up.
We waited under the hot sun in front of Central Catholic High School. 20 minutes later, we finally got on our transfer and was dropped off in the downtown area. We then had to wait another 20 minutes for our “Express” bus. It was hot but at least we were in a shaded area and across from Main Plaza.
The Express bus arrived and we happened to run into a couple of ‘morning’ riders. Shari and I thought the bus was going faster than the speed limit on Interstate 10, but it was hard for us to see the speedometer. It just seemed like we were flying down the highway. Then, when the busdriver got off and on to the access road, he actually pulled over to the side of the road.
We waited for about 5 to 7 minutes. Shari and I looked at each other wondering why we were flying down the expressway only to wait on the side of the road. One rider noticed the looks on our faces and said “oh, he probably was too early,” meaning the bus driver was ahead of his scheduled arrival time.
But soon we got to our destination and all was well. Fellow KSAT employees are now taking the bus with good results.
