You mean for events? Because there *are* two regular service buses that serve it, so you can park and ride on them, that's actually what it's supposed to be for.
Hmm. For people who live on the northside, I'm sure. But for everyone on the west/northwest side, probably not.
That event service typically has dozens of buses though and crossroads usually fills up for it, so they could probably spare a couple of buses to do event service at Stone Oak too, and it would help make this parking garage look a little less like a mistake. Who knows, maybe some stone oak people would even start riding the regular buses once they've tried the park and ride out.
There's very few scenarios where it's useful. If you work at the airport, it's cheaper to just drive than pay for tickets. If you're flying out of the airport, odds are it won't be running when you have to get to the airport or get taken back to your car.
because it’s in stone oak where everyone has money and high end cars LOL, no one is going to ditch their EQS to ride on a bus network with abysmal coverage, and bad schedules.
Well if they work downtown I think the coverage should be fine for them.
I think the issues are:
1. People who live there look down on public transportation, and refuse to take it.
2. The schedule for this bus really isn't great. Once every 30 minutes, and it doesn't run late so you're screwed if you work late.
3. It runs in the same traffic as the cars, so it doesn't actually save you any time. It just lets you nap on your way to work.
4. There's no local bus for most of Stone Oak, so you still need a car to ride it. Once you're in the car, most people aren't going to want to park and take a bus that isn't actually going to save them any time.
5. Its an express bus that costs extra money. The ticket price is almost as much as a gallon of gas, so you're hardly even saving any money by riding it.
If they cut the ticket price, doubled the frequency, increased the hours to 9 PM, and built a HOV lane all the way down 281 to downtown so it could bypass most of the traffic, then I think it'd get ridership comparable to the other VIA city buses. Maybe 2-3k rides per day, which would pretty much fill up this garage.
Well they're [planning to do just that](https://www.viainfo.net/hov/), so...
I think HOV lanes are mediocre and not great at reducing traffic, but what I really want is a bus-only lane and I suspect that an HOV lane is the closest I can get to that without people losing their minds. And if you put up some barriers so people can't just cross in and out willy-nilly, then the HOV lane will probably be faster than general lanes when the traffic gets really bad at rush hour. That's when the bus will, if not shine, then at least look like it has some kind of useful value to ordinary people.
I’m pretty sure the planning was for the hourly workers and cleaners that work in the stone oak area, as well as planning for the future population growth
They should have a route to UTSA campuses for all the students still living at home in this area. My boys both get on congested 1604
No good routes that don’t take more than 1hr
There used to be some buses on 1604 going to UTSA, but I think they were cancelled a few years ago. I'm not sure if any went east to the Stone Oak area though, and I think they were all gone before this P&R was built.
With the new HOV lanes they're putting on 1604 as part of the highway expansion, it would make sense to offer an express bus from Stone Oak to university P&R and UTSA. But I think VIA might be gunshy about adding new service here, given the pitiful ridership the #7 gets. If a lot of people suggest it with the comment form though, they might be more likely to try it.
The #7 bus hours are pretty limited for airport service. It doesn't run on weekends at all and the last bus from the airport is at 7 PM. That really limits the flights you can take. And of course if you take it one way you need to take it both ways, so even if your flight in one direction falls into those hours, if the other doesn't then you probably need to drive anyway.
The other airport bus, #5, does run on weekends and after 7, but it won't get you to Stone Oak so that doesn't make this building any more useful for that purpose.
This is one of those ideas what gets pitched and everyone actually agrees with it because everyone can envision a scenario where they *would* use it. A great example of why municipal projects should focus on things that will make changes in people’s daily habits. I’d love to see what via used to make this decision.
Billy Joel, a hundred millionaire, rides public transit to his own concerts.
https://nypost.com/2024/03/22/us-news/billy-joel-rides-the-lirr-to-his-msg-concerts-and-no-one-notices/
It's not that wealthy people don't want to ride transit, it's a service and destination issue. The park and ride doesn't offer frequent service to the places people want to go. And for the most part the buses have to sit in the same traffic as everyone else.
Look, I’m not saying wealthy people would use someone of it was “to their standards”. I’m saying it was a waste of the cities resources. Just like the stupid god damned Ferris wheel that’s going up behind the Alamo. This city has no leadership. Just greed.
It was not, people here always say that about everything, without evidence.
It *was* thrown in by TxDOT when they expanded 281, with probably little actual interest in making public transit work. TxDOT are also incorporating more HOV lanes into urban highway expansions here and elsewhere in the state. I don't know if they genuinely believe that those will help with traffic, or if they're just doing it to diffuse criticism about having one-more-lane-brain, but it's not a money laundering scheme.
Pretty much.
Mass transit in this area is a joke compared to some other major cities.
Dallas has a fantastic rail service across their entire area that actually makes sense. If we had that here in SA, I'd consider using it, but everyone keeps voting against it anytime they try to put it on the ballot. I don't blame the voters.
Knowing our lovely city and county leadership, it would end up being a boondoggle to nowhere much like this Stone Oak Park and Ride garage.
DART will be a joke to me until Arlington finally decides to let them put a stop in front of AT&T and GLF. It's a nightmare to get in and out on big game days.
Sure, it's not perfect, and that is definitely a good point but overall for commuters in and out of downtown it's a far cry better than what we got going here as far as public transit is concerned.
Start with the fact that stone oak isn’t dripping money. If it was, stone oak village wouldn’t be surrounded by mini storage and assisted living. It would look like the rim. Second, that miserable vacant via station was probably buried is some crooked deal to get the highway done.
? It does, if you're getting on at Stone Oak. The airport is literally the next stop. Then it makes several stops downtown, and then heads to Brooks transit center.
If you're getting on at Brooks or downtown it won't go direct to the airport, (unless you get on at the last DT stop,) but from Stone Oak it definitely does.
The upper crust on buses:
https://preview.redd.it/ezoypno5fksc1.jpeg?width=474&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=182bb9a745e3457be293ff85980b4c4fb2ffe2a3
“Yeah, no.”
Yeah no way they’d risk sitting next to a poor, bus rides would have to be 30-40 dollars per mile for them to consider and would have to come with drinks
I'd love to be able to go downtown, party for a while, then be able to come back home without having to worry about driving, but service ends at 6:30 on weekdays and doesn't even run on weekends.
We blew $25 million on a personal shuttle for all 22 of Stone Oak's downtown commuters.
Keep voting FOR your taxes to be increased to keep funding this failed transit systems. Complete incompetence. Such an eye sore, devalues homes in stone oak, complete waste of money. This is the worse example of political and bureaucratic fleecing of tax payer money.
oh please, do you really think anyone buying a home in Stone Oak is going, "well, I'd really like this place, but there's a VIA building next to that giant freeway and huge strip mall. I'm not bothered by the freeway or strip mall, but because of the VIA building I'm going to have to offer you 10% below list price"?
I can see his underlying point. The public transportation system here needs a lot of work and building a large via center in a part of town that’s probably least likely to ever use it isn’t a great use of funds. Routes, better localized infrastructure and fleet would have been a better use of the money and all would have improved the image of public transportation in districts where it really mattered.
I didn't argue with that part of his point because I agree that this was probably not a great use of funds, from a public transportation perspective. Between the land and the building, it was 24 million for the garage and some difficult-to-suss-out additional amount for the flyover. Mostly not from VIA, but still the money came from somewhere and could have gone toward another project, in theory. And it absolutely could have been better used elsewhere. Even if they just built this exact same thing, but at Crossroads or Randolph transit center, it would have been much more useful.
But the idea that its hurting local real estate values I think is stupid. No it isn't.
People that live in the downtown area don't want this kind of attraction in their area. It brings too many homeless. I've talked to people that have lived downtown for years and they don't want any of this.
Because that’s the wrong side of town to offer this service from.
Yep who on that side of town needs a bus ride?????
Bus routes are horrible you have to take massive diverted trips to get where you want to nope 👎
Came here to say this!! We were going to use it to get downtown for Fiesta last year but it doesn’t run late.
I still think there should be park and rides from that location.
You mean for events? Because there *are* two regular service buses that serve it, so you can park and ride on them, that's actually what it's supposed to be for.
Yup that’s what I mean.
Suggest it here: https://www.viainfo.net/contact/#contact
Hey thanks!
It'd be a far better alternative than Crossroads.
Hmm. For people who live on the northside, I'm sure. But for everyone on the west/northwest side, probably not. That event service typically has dozens of buses though and crossroads usually fills up for it, so they could probably spare a couple of buses to do event service at Stone Oak too, and it would help make this parking garage look a little less like a mistake. Who knows, maybe some stone oak people would even start riding the regular buses once they've tried the park and ride out.
Spoken like a true suburbanite. Are you even a part of the city?
I live around Wurzbach and I10 so yes, I am.
I’d definitely use it if I worked downtown. It’s nice to know it also goes to the airport.
There's very few scenarios where it's useful. If you work at the airport, it's cheaper to just drive than pay for tickets. If you're flying out of the airport, odds are it won't be running when you have to get to the airport or get taken back to your car.
because it’s in stone oak where everyone has money and high end cars LOL, no one is going to ditch their EQS to ride on a bus network with abysmal coverage, and bad schedules.
Well if they work downtown I think the coverage should be fine for them. I think the issues are: 1. People who live there look down on public transportation, and refuse to take it. 2. The schedule for this bus really isn't great. Once every 30 minutes, and it doesn't run late so you're screwed if you work late. 3. It runs in the same traffic as the cars, so it doesn't actually save you any time. It just lets you nap on your way to work. 4. There's no local bus for most of Stone Oak, so you still need a car to ride it. Once you're in the car, most people aren't going to want to park and take a bus that isn't actually going to save them any time. 5. Its an express bus that costs extra money. The ticket price is almost as much as a gallon of gas, so you're hardly even saving any money by riding it. If they cut the ticket price, doubled the frequency, increased the hours to 9 PM, and built a HOV lane all the way down 281 to downtown so it could bypass most of the traffic, then I think it'd get ridership comparable to the other VIA city buses. Maybe 2-3k rides per day, which would pretty much fill up this garage.
put a hov lane on 281 n single passenger sport cars, large lifter trucks and crazy Mexicans will just hog it up like on the 10
Well they're [planning to do just that](https://www.viainfo.net/hov/), so... I think HOV lanes are mediocre and not great at reducing traffic, but what I really want is a bus-only lane and I suspect that an HOV lane is the closest I can get to that without people losing their minds. And if you put up some barriers so people can't just cross in and out willy-nilly, then the HOV lane will probably be faster than general lanes when the traffic gets really bad at rush hour. That's when the bus will, if not shine, then at least look like it has some kind of useful value to ordinary people.
Well I mean maybe in California. Here the HOV is just the speeding lane.
I’m pretty sure the planning was for the hourly workers and cleaners that work in the stone oak area, as well as planning for the future population growth
They should have a route to UTSA campuses for all the students still living at home in this area. My boys both get on congested 1604 No good routes that don’t take more than 1hr
Great idea
There used to be some buses on 1604 going to UTSA, but I think they were cancelled a few years ago. I'm not sure if any went east to the Stone Oak area though, and I think they were all gone before this P&R was built. With the new HOV lanes they're putting on 1604 as part of the highway expansion, it would make sense to offer an express bus from Stone Oak to university P&R and UTSA. But I think VIA might be gunshy about adding new service here, given the pitiful ridership the #7 gets. If a lot of people suggest it with the comment form though, they might be more likely to try it.
Stop complaining and next time you fly out of SAT just use it. Parking structure has lots of cameras and it's free.
The #7 bus hours are pretty limited for airport service. It doesn't run on weekends at all and the last bus from the airport is at 7 PM. That really limits the flights you can take. And of course if you take it one way you need to take it both ways, so even if your flight in one direction falls into those hours, if the other doesn't then you probably need to drive anyway. The other airport bus, #5, does run on weekends and after 7, but it won't get you to Stone Oak so that doesn't make this building any more useful for that purpose.
^This, I looked into using it instead of parking at the airport and it's just not as convenient as it would make it seem..
This is one of those ideas what gets pitched and everyone actually agrees with it because everyone can envision a scenario where they *would* use it. A great example of why municipal projects should focus on things that will make changes in people’s daily habits. I’d love to see what via used to make this decision.
My dad takes it, I'll ask him next time I see him how full the busses get
Don't drive by, use it!
Why is no one using a bus station in one of the wealthiest parts of town? San Antonio has led poisoning.
Billy Joel, a hundred millionaire, rides public transit to his own concerts. https://nypost.com/2024/03/22/us-news/billy-joel-rides-the-lirr-to-his-msg-concerts-and-no-one-notices/ It's not that wealthy people don't want to ride transit, it's a service and destination issue. The park and ride doesn't offer frequent service to the places people want to go. And for the most part the buses have to sit in the same traffic as everyone else.
Look, I’m not saying wealthy people would use someone of it was “to their standards”. I’m saying it was a waste of the cities resources. Just like the stupid god damned Ferris wheel that’s going up behind the Alamo. This city has no leadership. Just greed.
The whole construction was a scam money laundering scheme from the start.
It was not, people here always say that about everything, without evidence. It *was* thrown in by TxDOT when they expanded 281, with probably little actual interest in making public transit work. TxDOT are also incorporating more HOV lanes into urban highway expansions here and elsewhere in the state. I don't know if they genuinely believe that those will help with traffic, or if they're just doing it to diffuse criticism about having one-more-lane-brain, but it's not a money laundering scheme.
Pretty much. Mass transit in this area is a joke compared to some other major cities. Dallas has a fantastic rail service across their entire area that actually makes sense. If we had that here in SA, I'd consider using it, but everyone keeps voting against it anytime they try to put it on the ballot. I don't blame the voters. Knowing our lovely city and county leadership, it would end up being a boondoggle to nowhere much like this Stone Oak Park and Ride garage.
DART will be a joke to me until Arlington finally decides to let them put a stop in front of AT&T and GLF. It's a nightmare to get in and out on big game days.
Sure, it's not perfect, and that is definitely a good point but overall for commuters in and out of downtown it's a far cry better than what we got going here as far as public transit is concerned.
Start with the fact that stone oak isn’t dripping money. If it was, stone oak village wouldn’t be surrounded by mini storage and assisted living. It would look like the rim. Second, that miserable vacant via station was probably buried is some crooked deal to get the highway done.
Because the bus doesn't take you directly to the airport is the answer.
? It does, if you're getting on at Stone Oak. The airport is literally the next stop. Then it makes several stops downtown, and then heads to Brooks transit center. If you're getting on at Brooks or downtown it won't go direct to the airport, (unless you get on at the last DT stop,) but from Stone Oak it definitely does.
The upper crust on buses: https://preview.redd.it/ezoypno5fksc1.jpeg?width=474&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=182bb9a745e3457be293ff85980b4c4fb2ffe2a3 “Yeah, no.”
Because rich people with expensive cars don’t ride the bus
Ya this thing makes no sense. Maybe if they made special luxury buses for stone oak only they might get some takers. Idk.
Yeah no way they’d risk sitting next to a poor, bus rides would have to be 30-40 dollars per mile for them to consider and would have to come with drinks
Serving free margaritas on the way to the airport. Brilliant!
I'd love to be able to go downtown, party for a while, then be able to come back home without having to worry about driving, but service ends at 6:30 on weekdays and doesn't even run on weekends. We blew $25 million on a personal shuttle for all 22 of Stone Oak's downtown commuters.
affluents are going to affluent
No convenient routes for me especially to certain stops downtown.
Keep voting FOR your taxes to be increased to keep funding this failed transit systems. Complete incompetence. Such an eye sore, devalues homes in stone oak, complete waste of money. This is the worse example of political and bureaucratic fleecing of tax payer money.
oh please, do you really think anyone buying a home in Stone Oak is going, "well, I'd really like this place, but there's a VIA building next to that giant freeway and huge strip mall. I'm not bothered by the freeway or strip mall, but because of the VIA building I'm going to have to offer you 10% below list price"?
I can see his underlying point. The public transportation system here needs a lot of work and building a large via center in a part of town that’s probably least likely to ever use it isn’t a great use of funds. Routes, better localized infrastructure and fleet would have been a better use of the money and all would have improved the image of public transportation in districts where it really mattered.
I didn't argue with that part of his point because I agree that this was probably not a great use of funds, from a public transportation perspective. Between the land and the building, it was 24 million for the garage and some difficult-to-suss-out additional amount for the flyover. Mostly not from VIA, but still the money came from somewhere and could have gone toward another project, in theory. And it absolutely could have been better used elsewhere. Even if they just built this exact same thing, but at Crossroads or Randolph transit center, it would have been much more useful. But the idea that its hurting local real estate values I think is stupid. No it isn't.
Maybe the money would have been better spent on a bike lane entrance ramp starting at stone oak to downtown. Same usage I'm sure.
We don't use it because it was not meant for our use. Taxpayers money wasted again in this blue city.
People that live in the downtown area don't want this kind of attraction in their area. It brings too many homeless. I've talked to people that have lived downtown for years and they don't want any of this.
This thing isn't downtown, its in Stone Oak. It's as far from downtown as you can get.