San Antonio doesn’t offer free bus rides yet, but three City Council members want to study the idea. Jalen McKee-Rodriguez, Teri Castillo, and Ric Galvan have proposed looking into a zero-fare pilot program for VIA Transit, with a long-term goal of making all rides free by 2035. Their memo suggests several pilot options, like free rides for youth, low-income riders, or certain ZIP codes. The big question is how to pay for it. Supporters say it would make transportation cheaper, while VIA officials and business groups warn that funding rules and financial limits make it hard to switch to free fares quickly, as reported by San Antonio Express-News.
CCR Outlines Pilot Options
The memo, described by the San Antonio Express-News, lays out several possible pilot models. Those include programs aimed at riders under 18, specific bus lines, certain ZIP codes, income-qualified groups and defined categories of workers.
The sponsors say the short pilot would be designed to test how free fares affect ridership, operations and equity, then build toward a "long-term implementation plan" that could get VIA to a zero-fare system by 2035. To move the request into a City Council committee, the trio needs two additional council members to sign on. That would formally launch hearings, staff work and a more public fight over priorities.
VIA Says Sales Tax Is Spoken For
VIA, for its part, is not exactly rolling out the welcome mat for the idea.
The agency points to the additional one-eighth-cent sales tax that voters reallocated in 2020, which will begin flowing to VIA in 2026, and says that money is already spoken for. According to Keep SA Moving, the revenue is intended to fund Advanced Rapid Transit corridors, service frequency improvements under the Better Bus Plan and technology upgrades. VIA argues those modernization efforts need to be in place before any operating dollars are shifted toward fare relief.
Agency officials say those capital and service commitments leave "no capacity in the new revenue to absorb any new programs" without cutting into the improvements voters were promised.
Agency Financials And The Fare Debate
Supporters of the zero-fare push point to VIA's own financials to argue that fares are a relatively small slice of the pie and should not be treated as untouchable.
The San Antonio Express-News reported that state sales tax made up about 57% of VIA's roughly $465 million in total revenue in 2024, while fares covered less than 5% of approximately $327 million in operating expenses.
VIA spokesman Josh Baugh told reporters that "VIA does not have funding to cover what would be lost through canceling fares" and warned that some of the agency's bond covenants specifically reference farebox receipts. That detail turns what might sound like a simple policy shift into a legal and financial puzzle, especially if the goal is to eliminate fares systemwide.
Where Would Payfors Come From?
The council trio insists they are not trying to blow a hole in VIA's budget without a backup plan. They say they are exploring other ways to plug the gap created by lost fare revenue.
One idea on the table is using a portion of the $75 million the Spurs pledged to the city over 30 years as part of the downtown arena term sheet. The commitment, structured as $2.5 million a year for 30 years, is laid out in the city's term sheet and would be allocated at the discretion of the City Council.
Steering some of that money toward transit would require political consensus and would compete with other priorities that city leaders have already been eyeing for those dollars. In other words, every free ride for one group of residents could mean a lost opportunity for another project.
What Comes Next
If the three sponsors secure the additional co-sponsors they need, the CCR will be routed to a council committee for detailed budget, legal and ridership analysis. Expect public hearings, modeling and plenty of testimony from both opponents and supporters once that happens.
Business groups and local chambers, which have publicly backed VIA's Green and Silver Advanced Rapid Transit projects, are poised to defend funding for those lines. That suggests the coming fight will be as much about what the city values most as it is about the mechanics of transit finance.
The council members behind the CCR say they simply want the conversation to keep moving. For now, their proposal has turned bus fares and transit funding into one of the most closely watched debates at City Hall.
