San Antonio — Streetcar Commission Formed

Rail Transit Online, September 2009

"It's time for San Antonio to make a significant investment in mass transit," said Mayor Julian Castro on Sept. 16 when he joined other civic leaders in announcing the formation of the Commission on Intra-City Rail & Streetcar. Headed by developer Marty Wender, the new agency will determine whether streetcar technology is feasible and how it could be funded.

To help with that task, Castro, Weller, VIA Metropolitan Transit board Chairman Henry Munoz and others flew to Seattle to study that community's rail transit system. Weller said he would visit other cities as well, emphasizing it would be at his own expense.

Castro said he's convinced a streetcar connecting the city's core to its outer neighborhoods would stimulate urban development. The commission, members of which represent the business community, political leaders and academia, is expected to make a recommendation to the VIA board by the end of this year.