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Voters in Converse overwhelmingly rejected a proposal Tuesday to discontinue VIA Metropolitan Transit service, choosing to remain part of the San Antonio area's regional public transportation system.
About 78% of voters opposed discontinuing VIA service, while 22% supported the proposal, according to election-night results.
The Converse City Council placed the measure on the ballot amid concerns about the roughly $2 million in annual sales tax revenue the city contributes to VIA.
Converse dedicates one-half cent of its local sales tax to the transit agency. City officials projected that contribution would rise to more than $3 million by 2030, with payments totaling more than $10 million over the next four years.
City officials had sought to negotiate a lower contribution to VIA but were unsuccessful.
As an alternative, the city proposed replacing VIA with Alamo Regional Transit, a transportation service operated through the Alamo Area Council of Governments.
The proposed service would have provided free, reservation-based rides throughout Converse, with connections to VIA at the Randolph Park & Ride.
According to the city, the alternative would have covered all of Converse, compared with approximately 24% of the city's area currently served by VIA. Vehicles would have accommodated passengers using wheelchairs, scooters and other mobility aids.
With voters rejecting the proposal, VIA will continue providing bus service, VIAtrans for people with disabilities and VIA Link, an on-demand transportation service. The city's sales tax contribution will also remain with VIA.
Converse is not the first community in the San Antonio area to consider leaving VIA. In 2016, Castle Hills voters rejected a similar proposal and chose to retain the regional transit service.
