Setting things up
Jonah Hutsell

San Antonio if they actually wanted to build rail

Map is Public
created 12 weeks ago
updated 3 weeks ago
San Antonio is famously the largest city in the US without rail transit. While it does seem very fitting of Texas to have a city with such an embarrassing title, San Antonio deserves better as the city with the best downtown in Texas. (It's a low bar) 😊 I decided a combination of light rail and commuter rail would be the most fitting for San Antonio, which what I chose for Austin and For Worth. I decided to make the light rail semi-metro style, with there being tunnels under downtown. I believe this system would make public transit a viable alternative to driving, and it could get good ridership (for the US) if proper TOD was built, and it was coupled with deprioritizing cars. For the Light Rail lines, there is heavy interlining because San Antonio isn't a large enough city to need high frequencies, and the interlined portions would theoretically provide good frequencies. I tried to connect the densest parts of the city with the light rail lines and provide places for TOD to take place. I also connected the airports to the light rail lines because it's always nice to have quality direct connections to downtown from the airports. (I'm looking at you Laguardia) For the commuter rail lines, they just serves to provide service further out in the suburbs, and to give service to some of the gaps in the network. I decided not to connect New Braunfels because there is not much between the last station and New Braunfels, but that would probably be a good place to serve with commuter rail. Honestly, I just want San Antonio to build any rapid transit, but I don't see that happening for a while.
Branch History
  1. MetroDreamin' by Jonah Hutsell
  2. Built from scratch

Comments

Score
0
Ridership
107M
Cost
$ 9.70B
Stations
102
Lines
9
Modes
2
Length
197 km
Where do these numbers come from?
San Antonio if they actually wanted to build rail by
created at
updated at 2025-04-05T06:59:42.946Z
San Antonio is famously the largest city in the US without rail transit. While it does seem very fitting of Texas to have a city with such an embarrassing title, San Antonio deserves better as the city with the best downtown in Texas. (It's a low bar) 😊 I decided a combination of light rail and commuter rail would be the most fitting for San Antonio, which what I chose for Austin and For Worth. I decided to make the light rail semi-metro style, with there being tunnels under downtown. I believe this system would make public transit a viable alternative to driving, and it could get good ridership (for the US) if proper TOD was built, and it was coupled with deprioritizing cars. For the Light Rail lines, there is heavy interlining because San Antonio isn't a large enough city to need high frequencies, and the interlined portions would theoretically provide good frequencies. I tried to connect the densest parts of the city with the light rail lines and provide places for TOD to take place. I also connected the airports to the light rail lines because it's always nice to have quality direct connections to downtown from the airports. (I'm looking at you Laguardia) For the commuter rail lines, they just serves to provide service further out in the suburbs, and to give service to some of the gaps in the network. I decided not to connect New Braunfels because there is not much between the last station and New Braunfels, but that would probably be a good place to serve with commuter rail. Honestly, I just want San Antonio to build any rapid transit, but I don't see that happening for a while.
Map type: local | Total track length: 123 miles | Center coordinate: 29.4723, -98.5083 | * Black Line: (Commuter/suburban rail, 10 stations) San Antonio, San Antonio, San Antonio, Interstate 10 West, Enterprise Drive, San Antonio, San Antonio, San Antonio, San Antonio, North Salado Street * Black Line: (Commuter/suburban rail, 7 stations) North Salado Street, San Antonio, San Antonio, McAllister Freeway, San Antonio, Thousand Oaks Drive, San Antonio * Yellow Line: (Light rail/interurban, 17 stations) Magnes Street, Southwest 40th Street, Southwest 34th Street, San Antonio, Northwest 24th Street, North Zarzamora Street, North Pinto Street, North Salado Street, North Laredo Street, North Saint Mary's Street, North Saint Mary's Street, Bowie Street, Heiman Street, South Pine Street, South Mittman Street, North Onslow Street, Trooper Road * Blue Line: (Light rail/interurban, 17 stations) Southeast Military Drive, Scheh Street, San Antonio, Bank Street, West Cevallos Street, Beauregard Street, River Walk, Convent Street, San Pedro Avenue, San Antonio, West Huisache Avenue, San Antonio, La Manda Boulevard, Jackson Keller Road, Cage Avenue, West Rector Drive, Long Term Parking * Orange Line: (Light rail/interurban, 17 stations) Perrin Beitel Road, Eisenhauer Road, Mount Calvary Drive, Broadway, Perry Court, Broadway, Pearl Parkway, 10th Street, 4th Street, River Walk, Beauregard Street, West Cevallos Street, Furnish Avenue, Mauermann Street, Linares Avenue, New Laredo Highway, Clarence Tinker Drive * Purple Line: (Light rail/interurban, 19 stations) Long Term Parking, East Rampart Drive, West Sunset Road, East Nottingham, East Castano Avenue, Broadway, Perry Court, Broadway, Pearl Parkway, 10th Street, 4th Street, River Walk, Beauregard Street, West Cevallos Street, Furnish Avenue, Mauermann Street, Linares Avenue, New Laredo Highway, Clarence Tinker Drive * Green Line: (Light rail/interurban, 29 stations) Vance Jackson Road, La Cantera Parkway, La Cantera Parkway, Anderson Loop, UTSA Boulevard, West Hausman Road, Babcock Road, San Antonio, Whitby Road, Medical Drive, Babcock Road, Babcock Road, Chedder Drive, East Crestline Drive, Shadyview Drive, Erskine Place, West Olmos Drive, Angeles Drive, Fredericksburg Road, San Antonio, San Pedro Avenue, Convent Street, River Walk, Beauregard Street, West Cevallos Street, Bank Street, San Antonio, Scheh Street, Southeast Military Drive * Red Line: (Light rail/interurban, 36 stations) Vance Jackson Road, La Cantera Parkway, La Cantera Parkway, Anderson Loop, UTSA Boulevard, West Hausman Road, Babcock Road, San Antonio, Whitby Road, Medical Drive, Babcock Road, Babcock Road, Chedder Drive, East Crestline Drive, Shadyview Drive, Erskine Place, Donaldson Avenue, North San Augustine Street, Ruiz Street, San Antonio, Northwest 24th Street, North Zarzamora Street, North Pinto Street, North Salado Street, North Laredo Street, North Saint Mary's Street, Bowie Street, Heiman Street, South Pine Street, South Mittman Street, Ambrosia Avenue, Clark Avenue, Bremen Street, Goliad Road, Goliad Road, Goliad Road * Black Line: (Commuter/suburban rail, 9 stations) North Salado Street, San Antonio, San Antonio, San Antonio, San Antonio, San Antonio, San Antonio, Converse, Universal City
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