VIA's Prímo fleet now in action

Transit customers go through the new hub at the South Texas Medical Center, where riders can get real-time updates on when the next bus will arrive. Transit customers go through the new hub at the South Texas Medical Center, where riders can get real-time updates on when the next bus will arrive. Photo: Tom Reel, San Antonio Express-News Photo: Tom Reel, San Antonio Express-News Image 1 of / 27 Caption Close VIA's Prímo fleet now in action 1 / 27 Back to Gallery

VIA Metropolitan Transit rolled out its “first high-capacity transit service” Saturday with sleek, elongated buses that run on compressed natural gas, and held a grand opening for a transit hub at the South Texas Medical Center, where riders can get real-time update on when the next bus will arrive.

“Today, we move into the 21st century,” VIA Chairman Henry Muñoz told some 400 people who celebrated the launch with balloons and mariachi music.

Muñoz and Mayor Julián Castro heralded the new service as a breakthrough milestone for San Antonio's transit system, which they relied on while growing up.

Muñoz recalled watching through the window as his mother, who cleaned homes, would board a bus in the morning “so she could make sure that my life was better than hers.” Castro said he and brother Joaquin often rode VIA's No. 68 Guadalupe Street bus.

The new Prímo service will help San Antonio compete with other cities that “get basic things right” as a place to live and work, Castro said.

The service — which provides shorter wait times, free Wifi and other amenities — will improve the quality of life for early risers who are “the life blood of our city” and encourage more people to ride transit, he said.

“And that's why bus rapid transit is such a fantastic addition to San Antonio and Bexar County,” Castro added.

Riders can experience the service for free today from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Regular weekday service will begin at 4 a.m. Monday.

Tracy Manning, VIA's manager of route planning, said the new buses, which are 20 feet longer than regular buses, with an articulated hinge in the middle to help round corners, provide a service that is “fast, frequent and friendly.” Buses will run every 10 minutes during peak periods.

From the Medical Center, they will travel on Fredericksburg Road, from Wurzbach Road to Interstate 10, then take I-10 to downtown. Every third northbound Prímo bus will continue on Fredericksburg and I-10 to the University of Texas at San Antonio.

“It's going to be the most frequent service in our system,” Manning said.

More Information Bus Rapid Transit service begins PDF: Here's a look at the features and route of VIA Prímo, the VIA Metropolitan Transit's first bus rapid transit line.

The new transit center at Babcock Road and Medical Drive has a modern art-deco style, with rolling curves, and windows providing natural lighting in a spacious indoor lobby that seats 60 people.

The street markers denoting the Prímo service are a bright red-orange — “rorange,” a term coined by transit officials.

The concrete walls, with flowering vines, buffer sound. A detention pond serves as drainage and a solar farm generates 130 kilowatt-hours per year as supplemental power for the building.

Lynda Guerra, who works as a custodian, said she liked Prímo's “smooth ride” after a round trip to downtown and back with her family and a friend.

“I'm going to start riding the bus again,” Guerra said.

Hope Cooper, an Air Force veteran who has been in a wheelchair with a spinal cord injury since 1989, said the spaces for the disabled were user-friendly. She said she can use it to go downtown with her friends, rather than relying on VIA's paratransit van service.

“We had access to just about every place we needed, including Market Square and the courthouse,” Cooper said. “With this, I can go with my buddies to Rivercenter mall.”

The 16 Prímo buses, which each cost $878,000, were purchased with federal transit funds, paired with a 20 percent local match.

Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff said San Antonio finally is moving quickly toward a balanced transportation network that gives people choices between cars and public transit, and between suburban living and life in a revitalized central city.

shuddleston@express-news.net