San Antonio’s VIA Metropolitan Transit and the Better Futures Institute launched a Summer 2026 data fellowship program, placing approximately 20 local scholars alongside VIA employees to learn from and advance the agency’s transit work.

The program marks the second year of collaboration between the two organizations.

The partnership gives Better Futures Scholars hands-on experience with real-world challenges while providing VIA with additional analytical capacity to support key agency priorities.

“This partnership reflects VIA’s commitment to innovation, collaboration, and developing the next generation of problem-solvers,” said VIA President/CEO Jon Gary Herrera. “By working alongside the scholars, we’re gaining fresh perspectives and data-driven insights that will help us better understand our riders, strengthen our service, and continue building a transit system that meets the needs of our growing community.”

The Partnership Focusing on 2 Initiatives

The program began June 1 and will run through August. Scholars will work on two VIA initiatives. The first focuses on ridership forecasting, supporting VIA staff in developing models that improve understanding of future ridership demand to inform long-term service planning and resource allocation.

The second initiative involves an analysis of service changes implemented through VIA’s Better Bus Plan. Scholars will examine ridership trends, route performance, and operational outcomes resulting from recent service adjustments.

Each project will produce deliverables that remain with VIA after the program concludes, including analytical models, dashboards, geospatial analyses, automated workflows, documentation, and final recommendations. VIA’s Innovation & Technology division is serving as the administrative sponsor of the partnership.