VIA (San Antonio) OKs local streetcar funding
Written by William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-ChiefSan Antonio, Tex.’s VIA Metropolitan Transit has formally increased the amount of money it will put into two downtown streetcar lines, ensuring that the proposed system is built largely with local money.
The transit authority,which originally had pledged to spend $70 million, has increased its commitment to $92 million, matching a Bexar County share to help fund $239 million for the streetcar system, transit stations, and other improvements.
VIA, Bexar County, and the city of San Antonio in late October agreed to pay for the project with various sources, including bond money supported by a transit tax and a planned special assessment district downtown. VIA also will tap a bus replacement fund.
VIA also plans begin talking to the private sector about possible public/private partnerships at some of VIA’s planned developments, including its West Side Multimodal Center and the Robert Thompson Transit Center.
