VIA Link offering free service all day today to celebrate new route

SAN ANTONIO (KTSA News) — VIA Metropolitan Transit is offering free rides all day today to celebrate the new Northwest route added to the service.

The new VIA Link zone provides service to 14.4 square mile area along Loop 1604 from Babcock to Culebra and on Bandera Road from Loop 1604 to Mainland. The route includes the UTSA Main Campus and Northwest Vista College.

VIA Link provides rides to customers at the same rate as regular bus fares. The rides can be schedule using the free VIA goMobile+ app, through the VIA online portal or by phone.

“Unlike buses that run on a schedule, you demand a ride and they respond,” VIA President and CEO Jeff Arndt said. “I often say it’s like a limited-area Uber or Lyft, except it’s VIA prices and VIA never charges surge pricing.”

According to VIA, riders are generally picked up by a VIA Link vehicle within 10 to 20 minutes of booking.

Arndt said that students at UTSA and Northwest Vista College have access to VIA Link rides free of charge. For everyone else looking for rides in the service area, the VIA Link fare is $1.30.

The other two routes cover 17 miles in the Northeast zone and provides rides to Brooks Transit Center through the the Sandy Oaks Express route.

You can read more about VIA Link services at viainfo.net/LINK.