San Antonio's VIA Unveils Fully Integrated Bikeshare, Transit Payments

San Antonio joins Las Vegas as the second city in the U.S. to integrate its bikeshare and transit systems into a single account and app experience.

The new offering, available in the Transit app, enables riders to plan a multimodal trip, purchase a transit pass, and unlock a bike with just a few taps.

CapMetro has begun to integrate MetroBike pass sales, but riders must download a second app to unlock the bike. By bringing these services together in Transit, San Antonio BCycle and VIA are taking connectivity a step further, creating a combined option that brings mobility options together in one place. 

VIA riders have used ticketing in Transit for nearly 77,000 trips since the Via launched fare payment in the app in August 2021. VIA riders can now add bikeshare passes and unlock bikes with their Transit account for San Antonio BCycle’s network of more than 50 stations and 250 e-bikes.

“We are focused on enhancing our customers’ experience, including providing new, convenient tools that make it easier to choose and use VIA and all available public transit options,” said Jeffrey C. Arndt, VIA president/CEO. “Partnering with the Transit app and BCycle to make it a seamless experience for our riders is part of the plan to use innovative transit technology that helps keep San Antonio moving.”

Users can enter payment information once to purchase and activate any transit or bikeshare pass type with Transit. Previously, these services were not connected and required users to download multiple apps and enter payment information to separate accounts.

The technology behind this integration builds on the existing integration of Via’s goMobile+ mobile fare payment, available in the Transit app, using the Justride SDK from Masabi.

In addition to VIA, riders can use their Transit account to purchase fares for more than 65 transit systems across the U.S. and Canada, including AC Transit in the San Francisco Bay Area, RTD in Denver, RTC in Las Vegas, Big Blue Bus in Santa Monica, Metro in St. Louis, and Port Authority in Pittsburgh. The app also provides bikeshare payments and unlocking for 12 systems, including Santa Barbara BCycle, Louvelo in Louisville, RTC Bike Share in Las Vegas, BIXI in Montreal, and MoGo in Detroit.

“With their powers combined, VIA and BCycle are giving San Antonians a way to kick congestion and parking woes to the curb,” said Jake Sion, COO at Transit. “Bringing bikes and buses together in one app, with one account, makes it easier than ever to ditch the car and start riding with Transit instead.”