VIA Metropolitan Transit has unveiled the first of its new vehicles that will be used to serve VIA Primo, the agency’s signature bus rapid transit service.
The new vehicles, manufactured by North American Bus Industries, are 60 feet long, and they are articulated in the middle. Powered by compressed natural gas, the vehicles are also equipped with added amenities such as an expanded seating capacity, wireless internet connections, an on-board video-monitor information system and inside bicycle racks. They will be put into service along the Fredericksburg Road corridor when VIA Primo begins running in December 2012.
“This vehicle is the first of its kind in San Antonio,” said VIA President/CEO Keith T. Parker, “And we at VIA are proud to introduce it as our first step toward our goal of becoming a multimodal transit agency.”
VIA Primo will connect the area’s two largest employment centers (the central business district and the South Texas Medical Center), and it will provide high-capacity transit service that will enhance the mobility of workers, patients, and other citizens through the use of station-boarding.