DALLAS San Antonio voters will decide next May whether the city can plan for a modern streetcar or light rail system without their approval.
The City Council voted in August to place a charter amendment on the May ballot that would require voter approval before any outlay of funds for rail. The move comes after widespread objections to the city's planning for a modern streetcar system without voter authorization.
San Antonio and Bexar County withdrew their support for the VIA Metropolitan Transit agency's plan to build a nearly six-mile streetcar system downtown after protests from citizens and other elected officials. A citizen petition drive collected signatures seeking the charter amendment for the upcoming November election.
Though the petitioners lacked sufficient signatures to call the election, the city council still reversed course on its previous plan to fund $32 million of the project, and put the charter change amendment on the May 9, 2015 ballot.
With the modern streetcar stalled indefinitely, the $92 million that the Texas Department of Transportation allocated to VIA for the proposed system will be redirected to other projects, officials said.
The VIA board voted to put $50.7 million toward a proposed bus rapid transit line that will connect the south and west sides of the city to the South Texas Medical Center. Another $16 million will go toward a pair of park and ride operations. Improvements to some 300 bus stops will be paid for with a $5.2 million allocation and an additional $10 million will go toward a planned transit center.
