San Antonio Transportation Infrastructure Committee Meeting — November 3, 2026

The Transportation Infrastructure Committee met from 2:05 p.m. to 3:54 p.m. on November 3, 2026. No agenda or minutes were provided; this summary is based on the raw transcript. A quorum was present, with Chair McKee Rodriguez presiding and Councilmembers Corps (online), Mungia, Alderete Gavito, and Spears participating. The meeting covered Waymo autonomous vehicles, VIA safety and security, and a Council Consideration Request for a floodplain tree planting program.

Consent Calendar

• Approved the prior Transportation and Infrastructure Committee minutes by unanimous voice vote. The transcript notes a clerical error that labeled the body as Planning and Community Development; the chair corrected it to Transportation and Infrastructure.

Public Comments & Testimony

• Bianca Maldonado, president of the Monticello Park Neighborhood Association, spoke on items 2, 3, and 4. On VIA, she raised safety and operational concerns around high-ridership bus stops, including the recent closure of a stop on the 100 block of Mary Louise to reduce conflicts with bus turns across a high-pedestrian area; she asked for safer access, reduced conflicts near Fredericksburg Road, more VIA transit police presence, and attention to trash, free-speech activity, and pop-up vendors. She said 311 does not resolve mobile pop-up vendor issues and that same-day supervisor dispatch is needed. On the tree/floodplain item, she expressed support for more green infrastructure in the floodplain and the CCR. On Waymo, she said a Waymo almost hit her in an HEB parking lot, questioned whether mapping matches actual roadways, and asked Waymo to stay on highways rather than residential streets because of long-term street maintenance costs.

Discussion Items

• Waymo informational briefing: Annabelle Chang and Dr. Robert Chen presented. Waymo cited 170 traffic fatalities on San Antonio roads in 2024, many involving pedestrians, cyclists, or impaired driving, and said those are non-factors for its vehicles. It described more than 15 years of autonomous-vehicle work, fully autonomous commercial service since October 2020, operations in 14 other cities, about 100 vehicles in San Antonio, a 100,000-square-foot depot in the chair's district, and more than two dozen full-time employees with benefits. Waymo said its sensor stack includes LIDAR, radar, 29 cameras, and microphones; it reported 500,000 paid rides per week nationally and more than 1 million fully autonomous miles on public roads. A safety paper based on a 270 million mile benchmark reported 95% fewer serious-injury-or-worse crashes than human drivers. The company described its April 20 incident in San Antonio, when an unoccupied Waymo entered a flooded roadway and was pulled into an active waterway; there were no riders or injuries. Waymo paused service, issued a voluntary software recall, improved vehicle, avoidance-area, and operational-policy measures, and later resumed and expanded service. On accountability, Waymo said local law enforcement can ticket it, Texas DMV regulates it, collisions are federally reported, and it accepts liability when responsible. On privacy, Waymo said sensor data is used for safety and technology improvement, in-cabin audio is off unless rider support is activated, in-cabin camera use is limited, and data is provided only under valid legal requests such as a court order or warrant; Waymo said facial-recognition or ad-targeting use cases are not current capabilities. Council members asked about service-area limits, highway operations, construction zones, emergency response plans, insurance limits, empty-vehicle congestion, data retention, job impacts, and expansion. Waymo said its service area reflects demand, the airport, and the single depot's charging range; that San Antonio operations do not currently include highways; that construction zones are difficult without clear markings and are an area for improvement; that it did not have insurance limits immediately available; and that it had no imminent expansion plans. Chair McKee Rodriguez noted state law limits local regulation and raised concerns about accountability via fines, surveillance, and broader job impacts. Councilmember Corps raised routing through District 1 neighborhoods including Crown Hill and Lavaca/Indianola/Durango; Waymo said it made operational adjustments to reduce through traffic in Crown Hill while preserving local pickups and drop-offs. Councilmember Corps also raised empty Waymo vehicles causing congestion and requested demand-based deployment; Waymo did not share utilization data. Waymo agreed to provide its emergency response plan submitted to DPS and said its first-responder ambassador team has trained over 1,000 first responders. Waymo also said it does not yet have enough San Antonio data for city-specific apples-to-apples safety comparisons.
• VIA safety and security briefing: Chair McKee Rodriguez said he agendized the item after fare-free transit debate and concerns that charging $1.30 would improve safety; he questioned that premise and asked about outreach coordination. Tom Marks, Tremel Brown, Chief Joseph Rose, and Sean Kagan presented. VIA reported 1,058 bus drivers, service from about 4 a.m. to 12:30 a.m., coverage of 1,210 square miles, more than 7,000 bus stops, and more than 2,500 sheltered stations. It described 24/7 transit security officers and transit police, a 13-week operator training program focused first on customer experience, de-escalation and ADA/mental-health awareness, biannual refreshers, post-accident refreshers, and refreshers after more than 30 days away. VIA also described camera and vehicle-tracking systems, dispatch coordination next to SAPD at TransGuide, panic alarms, See Something Say Something reporting, maintenance and accident-prevention efforts, National Transit Database reporting, customer conduct rules, shelter and lighting upgrades, a solar lighting pilot adding at least 15 seconds of illumination per activation, emergency management coordination, and its FTA-aligned Safety Management System. VIA said its National Transit Database safety performance was best in Texas and number one in the country for response and lowest number, as recognized by the Federal Transit Administration. Chair McKee Rodriguez asked about coordination with homeless outreach and floated an outreach-worker ride-along pilot; VIA cited discounted fare partnerships with 129 nonprofits, representing more than $3 million in annual impact, and said it would continue the discussion offline. VIA said vehicular accidents are the most frequent incident type, followed by verbal and physical assaults, often tied to rule enforcement or fare disputes; it said protective barriers and de-escalation training have reduced some incidents. VIA said transit ambassadors are planned. Councilmember Alderete Gavito noted 5,100 students signed up for free student fares, thanked VIA for quick changes at the Mary Louise stop, and asked about transit police shifts; VIA said officers operate 24/7. Councilmember Mungia asked about fare evasion and overall safety; VIA said safety is not a frequent complaint in satisfaction surveys and that fare evasion is not a major issue. Councilmember Corps requested incident data as a follow-up and announced a business-stakeholder meeting on November 16 at 9 a.m. at Volera restaurant to bring VIA and other stakeholders together regarding construction impacts on small businesses; VIA agreed to provide incident data and said it would participate. The chair requested that any future move toward autonomous buses include robust community engagement and no surprises; VIA agreed.
• Floodplain tree planting CCR: Ross Hosea, Urban Forestry Manager, presented a Council Consideration Request filed by District 10 Councilmember Mark White in March. The CCR asks for a floodplain tree planting program with four components: authorize tree mitigation funds for planting, identify priority sites, require appropriate species, and establish a maintenance plan with annual reporting. Staff said existing UDC 35-523 authority already allows tree mitigation funds to plant on public and private property with up to three years of maintenance. Staff reported that in FY24 through FY26, over 1,800 trees, about 40% of non-residential plantings, went into flood-prone areas, and the adopted current budget includes 644 trees, with 37% of non-residential plantings in such areas. Staff defined flood-prone as within the 100-year floodplain or within 100 feet adjacent. Staff described a multi-phase project with over 400 trees in and adjacent to the floodplain and said the program would formalize a framework for annual coordination with Public Works and the river authority while ensuring plantings do not impede water flow or create maintenance problems. Staff said no policy change is required and current allocations would not change; the program would inform future budgets. Councilmember Mungia asked about updated floodplain maps; staff said it is working from a draft map and also considering unmapped areas known to the river authority. Councilmember Alderete Gavito expressed support and mentioned Woodlawn Lake and heat-island planting on Bandera Road medians.

Key Outcomes

• Prior committee minutes were approved by unanimous voice vote after correcting the body name.
• Waymo and VIA items were informational; no formal committee action was taken. Waymo agreed to provide its DPS emergency response plan; VIA agreed to follow up with incident data and to participate in the November 16 business-stakeholder meeting.
• The floodplain tree planting CCR was referred to the December 3 full Council agenda for adoption by unanimous committee vote.
• The chair invited members to submit future agenda ideas focused on gaps and policy discussions, and the meeting adjourned at 3:54 p.m. on November 3, 2026.