VIA expands van service to work centers at Kirby
VIA Metropolitan Transit is expanding its VIA Link shared-ride van service to the Kirby area to help riders reach employment centers on the Northeast Side.
VIA Link offers on-demand van service within specified zones for the same fare as a bus ride ($1.30 per trip). Users book a VIA Link ride online, by phone or via an app. VIA says they're usually picked up within 20 minutes, shorter than the typical wait time for a bus. Passengers can travel anywhere within a zone and also can make connections to the VIA bus system.
VIA Link currently operates in three zones. On Thursday, VIA announced that it's adding a fourth.
It's called VIA Link Randolph, and starting Monday it will operate in an 18square-mile area east of Interstate 35 and north of Interstate 10. Employment centers within the zone include two Amazon warehouses, a Pepsi-cola bottling plant and distribution centers operated by H-E-B, Home Depot and Dollar General.
Riders also will be able to reach Brooke Army Medical Center and VIA'S Randolph Transit Center, a park-and-ride facility off I-35 North served by 10 bus routes.
Via Link Randolph will operate seven days a week from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. VIA passes will be accepted, and discounts will be available for students, senior citizens, children and others. Rides can be booked up to a week in advance.
“This is the next step in fulfilling our promise to expand our services and offer our customers more mobility options that help them connect with opportunity,” Jeffrey C. Arndt, VIA'S president and CEO, said in a statement. “The on-demand service model offered by VIA Link is convenient, affordable and innovative. It provides a more efficient travel option for our customers.”
Starting Monday, VIA also is expanding the hours
of its three existing VIA Link zones. They'll operate daily from 5 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. They're also getting new names. The Northwest zone will be called VIA
Link Mainland. The South zone is being renamed VIA Link Madla, and the existing Northeast zone will be called VIA Link Naco Pass.
For more information, go
to Viainfo.net/link and download the VIA Link brochure or call 210-3622020. The VIA gomobile+ app is available on Apple and Android smartphones.