VIA Dedicates First Operations & Maintenance Facility in 80 Years
Milestone: Facility is the first of its kind built by VIA, for VIA in the agency’s history
U.S. Congressman Henry Cuellar (District 28) and San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg joined VIA Metropolitan Transit Chair Fernando Reyes, VIA Board members, and President/CEO Jeffrey C. Arndt for the official dedication of the new VIAtrans Operations Center and Maintenance Facility (VTOC) Thursday. The 11-acre property located at 4902 Fredericksburg Road was designed to house VIAtrans operations and fleet maintenance,
Upon opening last month, VTOC became the first facility of its kind built by VIA, for VIA, in the history of the agency, and the first maintenance and operations center for public transit to open in San Antonio in more than 75 years.
The building is a former retail store and later, a popular nightclub before VIA bought and repurposed it to service VIA’s paratransit fleet and operations. VIAtrans paratransit service is used by customers who cannot utilize the fixed-route bus system, due to a disability or impairment.
“These facilities will be the backbone of a growing system that is designed with more frequent, reliable bus and van service, expanded VIAlink service zones, and an Advanced Rapid System network of corridors that’s already underway,” VIA President and CEO Jeffrey C. Arndt said.
The project received $6 million from the Federal Transit Administration’s Grant for Buses and Bus Facilities Program.
“I’m proud to support this project and proud that my office was able to help secure federal funds to make this milestone possible for VIA and the communities it serves,” Congressman Cuellar said.
Mayor Nirenberg lauded the projects as a “step in the right direction” for VIA and for San Antonio.
“For too long, VIA was operating out of a single facility built just after the end of World War II, to support a definition of mobility designed to meet the needs of a city that simply does not exist anymore,” he said. “Our city, our community, and what it means to have meaningful public transportation today has completely transformed.” . . . We need public transportation to stay competitive, to grow jobs, to attract talent, to capture the momentum of this unprecedented growth. None of it works, without affordable, reliable public transportation.”
The mayor congratulated VIA for “taking steps to get us there – to go faster and farther, together.”
