Volume 1: The Role of Prepared for Transit in a Growing Region Understanding VIA’s Role in History, Prepared by VIA’s Role in the Community, and VIA in Comparison to Peer Agencies November 2016 Table of Contents 1.0 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Study Area and Existing VIA Service Area ...................................................... 1 1.2 Document Organization ............................................................................... 5 2.0 VIA’s Role in History ........................................................................................... 7 2.1 Post-Railroad Boom (1877–1945) ............................................................... 11 2.2 Post-WWII Boom (1945 – 1977) ................................................................. 14 2.3 Role of VIA in a Growing Region (1977 through today) ................................... 17 3.0 VIA’s Role in the Community ............................................................................ 23 3.1 Overview of Existing VIA Services ............................................................... 23 3.2 Community Impact of VIA Transit ............................................................... 32 4.0 VIA in Comparison to Peer Agencies ................................................................. 37 4.1 VIA Maintains Low Fares ............................................................................ 38 4.2 Transit Comprises a Comparatively Smaller Proportion of Work Trips ............... 39 4.3 VIA Provides High Service Delivery at Moderate Costs .................................... 40 4.4 Local Funding is Critical for VIA Operations ................................................... 42 4.5 VIA Has Had Low Capital Expenditures ......................................................... 44 5.0 Vision 2040 Opportunities and Challenges ........................................................ 47 Appendix A. History of Transportation in the Greater San Antonio Region ............ A-1 A.1 Auto-Centric Growth ................................................................................ A-1 A.2 Role of VIA in a Growing Region ................................................................ A-1 Appendix B. Summary of Relevant Transportation Studies and Plans ..................... B-1 B.1 Long Range Plans .................................................................................... B-1 B.2 Downtown Transit Service Plans ................................................................ B-4 B.3 Land Use Strategies and Plans ................................................................... B-5 B.4 Transit Needs Analysis and Surveys ........................................................... B-7 B.5 Major Capital Investment Studies ............................................................. B-10 Appendix C. VIA Performance Trends ...................................................................... C-1 C.1 Community Impact of VIA ......................................................................... C-1 C.2 Existing System Performance Trends .......................................................... C-2 C.3 Transit Consumption and Supply Trends by Mode ....................................... C-15 Vision 2040 Long Range Plan i Appendix D. Peer Review ........................................................................................ D-1 D.1 Demographic and Socioeconomic Characteristics .......................................... D-3 D.2 Existing System Performance Trends .......................................................... D-9 D.3 Service and Investment .......................................................................... D-10 D.4 Service Demand and Supply .................................................................... D-22 D.5 Cost Efficiency ....................................................................................... D-26 ii List of Tables Table 3.1 Overview of VIA’s Fixed-Route Service Levels ............................................. 24 Table 3.2 Distinguishing Characteristics of VIA’s Fixed Route Service Levels ................. 25 Table 3.3 List of Express Routes and Corresponding Park & Ride Lots .......................... 26 Table 3.4 Accessibility of Key Destinations to Transit (San Antonio MSA) ...................... 32 Table 3.5 Community Benefits of VIA Transit Service ................................................ 36 Table 4.1 Peer Agencies for Comparison .................................................................. 37 Table 4.2 Fares and Passes by Agency .................................................................... 39 Table 4.3 Fare Revenues, Operating Expenses, and Farebox Recovery by Agency .......... 43 Table C.1 Commuters’ Travel Behavior ................................................................... C-2 Table C.2 Performance Trend Indicators ................................................................. C-3 Table D.1 Summary of Peer Agencies ..................................................................... D-2 Table D.2 MSA Demographic and Socioeconomic Characteristics ................................ D-4 Table D.3 Traffic and Congestion for Peer MSAs ....................................................... D-8 Table D.4 Performance Trend Indicators ................................................................. D-9 Table D.5 FTA New Start/Small Start Grant Summary by Agency ............................. D-21 Vision 2040 Long Range Plan iii THIS PAGE LEFT INTENTIONALLY BLANK iv List of Figures Figure 1.1 Vision 2040 Key Milestones ........................................................................ 1 Figure 1.2 Vision 2040 Study Area and Existing VIA Service Area ................................... 3 Figure 1.3 San Antonio Urbanized Area in 2000 and 2010 ............................................. 4 Figure 2.1 Greater San Antonio Regional Transportation Timeline ................................... 9 Figure 2.2 San Antonio Transit System in 1890 ......................................................... 12 Figure 2.3 1913 San Antonio Traction Company Streetcar Map .................................... 13 Figure 2.4 San Antonio Urban Core 1953 (Above) and 2014 (Below)............................. 16 Figure 2.5 Bexar County Historical Transit Routes: 1960-1985 .................................... 18 Figure 2.6 VIA Launches Primo Service in 2012 ......................................................... 20 Figure 2.7 Centro Plaza .......................................................................................... 20 Figure 2.8 City of San Antonio Historical Population .................................................... 21 Figure 3.1 Primo and Express Bus Service and Park & Ride Facilities ............................. 27 Figure 3.2 Frequent, Metro, and Skip Routes and Transit Centers ................................. 28 Figure 3.3 VIVA Service ......................................................................................... 29 Figure 3.4 VIAtrans Service Area ............................................................................. 31 Figure 3.5 Texas Gasoline Price Trend, 2004-2013 ..................................................... 33 Figure 3.6 VIA Ridership, Population Growth, and Auto Use ......................................... 34 Figure 3.7 Method of Travel to Work by Service Available............................................ 34 Figure 3.8 Average Car Ownership per Household by Land Use and Transit Access ......... 35 Figure 3.9 Daily Vehicle Miles Travel per Capita by Transit Access ................................ 35 Figure 3.10 Population served by VIA ........................................................................ 36 Figure 4.1 Peer Agencies ........................................................................................ 38 Figure 4.2 Method of Travel to Work by MSA ............................................................. 39 Figure 4.3 Per Capita Transit Ridership (2013) .......................................................... 40 Figure 4.4 Vehicle Revenue Miles by Agency ............................................................. 41 Figure 4.5 Operating Expense per Revenue-Mile by Agency ......................................... 41 Figure 4.6 Passenger Trips per Revenue-Mile by Agency ............................................. 42 Figure 4.7 Sources of Operating Funds (2013) ........................................................... 43 Figure 4.8 Operating Expenses (2013) ..................................................................... 44 Figure 4.9 Sources of Capital Funds (2004-2013) ...................................................... 45 Figure 4.10 Capital Expenditures by Agency (2004-2013) ............................................. 45 Figure A.1 Population Density and Highway Construction, 1960 ................................... A-2 Figure A.2 Population Density and Highway Construction, 1980 ................................... A-3 Vision 2040 Long Range Plan v Figure A.3 Population Density and Highway Construction, 1990 ................................... A-4 Figure A.4 Population Density and Highway Construction, 2010 ................................... A-5 Figure A.5 Bexar County Transit and Population Density Circa 1960 ............................. A-6 Figure A.6 Bexar County Transit and Population Density Circa 1980 ............................. A-7 Figure A.7 Bexar County Transit