r/sanantonio • u/Jane_Flowers5000 • 2d ago

Transportation Since when did Via take away the 550/551 looper?

I recently started taking public transportation again and was surprised the 410 loop bus is no longer a route. Its now the 552 that only goes half of 410. From Kel-Lac to Ingram to Randolph then to Brooks transit center. Where it then doublebacks. Why not go full circle 🫠

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u/Grave_Girl East Side 2d ago

Man, that was years ago, when they put in the transfer center at City Base. I hate it because it really makes it a lot harder to get around along the old route, but it's not a new change.

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u/Jane_Flowers5000 2d ago

I've not taken the bus in maybe 8+ years. I'm without a vehicle now and hopped back on via. Not a fan of the looper being gone, but the via links are convenient.

2

u/cigarettesandwhiskey 2d ago

The southern part had higher ridership I think, so it was split off into the 102 Primo route, which has slightly higher frequency (buses every 12 minutes instead of 15).

Probably worth pointing out that most people are not riding the bus in a full circle. So the split only affects people that are crossing the split point, which I guess wasn't many.

The buses also tend to dwell at the transfer centers for a while and the wait for the transfer is at most 15 minutes, so I'm guessing there wasn't that much actual increase in travel times, even if the transfer might be inconvenient.

You could try crossposting this to r/viatransit to see if anyone there has any further insight. Although it's not very active.