So what would it take to get you to swap your car for a city bus on your morning commute?
News Radio 1200 WOAI reports VIA Metro Transit is coming out with three separate initiatives which CEO Jeff Arndt says will vastly increase the number of middle class commuters opting for mass transit in the coming decade.
The first is being introduced right now on several key main line bus routes. He says the frequency of the bus departures will be speeded up, drastically cutting the wait time to get on the bus.
"That frequency is what entices people to consider transit, because it is so convenient to just go and wait at the bus stop," Arndt said.
Surveys show that one of the reasons commuters choose not to take the bus is they don't want to wait at the bus stop, especially when the weather is unpleasant. Arndt says the goal is to 'design a better system' to help improve mobility as the region's population grows to an estimated two million plus to 2040.
Another thing that stops commuters from taking the bus is the fact that the bus stop is likely to be a good distance from their home or their place of business. Arndt says a test of a new program called 'Mobility on Demand' is coming this spring in a northeast side neighborhood, designed to overcome those objections.
"We would have some sort of vehicle, a shuttle, that you would take to the front door," he said, adding that a similar shuttle is possible, within a defined area, to pick you up at your home and take you to the bus stop.
And the third advance that Arndt says will do much to help VIA add new commuters, is new HOV lanes which are being installed in highway expansion on I-10 on the northwest side and US 281 on the north side.
He says from personal experience, he knows that sitting in your car stuck in traffic and watching the bus glide right past you is a huge advertisement for mass transit.
"My wife and I are carpooling in Houston, in the heat and the exhaust, and in the lane right next door, these buses are just flying by, and that was the end of it."
Arndt says a barrier to more rapid expansion for VIA is the fact that the City of San Antonio is maxed out on the sales tax it can charge, leaving only a half cent for VIA, while other cities get a full cent or more. He hopes that issue can be rectified, because that is preventing VIA from adding new equipment and build routes to the far north and northwest, where the growth is the greatest.