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Parent | City of El Paso |
---|---|
Founded | 1977 |
Headquarters | 10151 Montana El Paso, Texas |
Locale | El Paso, Texas, US |
Service area | El Paso County |
Service type | bus, paratransit |
Alliance | Project Amistad, El Paso County Route Transit |
Routes | 63 |
Stops | 2,858 |
Hubs | 8 |
Fleet | 171 |
Daily ridership | 20,700 (weekdays, Q3 2023) [1] |
Annual ridership | 5,618,900 (2022) [2] |
Fuel type | Compressed natural gas |
Operator | City of El Paso |
Website | sunmetro.net |
Sun Metro Mass Transit Department, simply known as Sun Metro, is the public transportation provider that serves El Paso, Texas. Consisting of buses and paratransit service, it is a department of the City of El Paso, and the agency also serves the rest of El Paso County. The major hub is located at the Bert Williams Downtown Santa Fe Transfer Center in the surrounding block areas in Downtown El Paso. In 2022, the system had a ridership of 5,618,900, or about 20,700 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2023.
Until 1987, Sun Metro was called Sun City Area Transit (SCAT).
The agency was headquartered at the historic Union Depot in downtown El Paso until 2014, when it opened a new 37.5-acre (15.2 ha) facility along Montana Avenue southeast of El Paso International Airport. [3]
Sun Metro began operating its express bus service, named Brio, on October 27, 2014, [4] serving the Mesa Street corridor (part of State Highway 20) between Downtown El Paso and the Westside Transfer Center in Northwest El Paso. The frequency of Brio buses range from 10 minutes during weekday rush hours to 15 minutes mid-day from Monday to Friday, and 20 minutes on Saturdays; buses do not run on Sundays or holidays. The line uses 22 purpose-built curbside stations with shelters, ticket vending machines for pre-boarding payment, and real-time arrival information. The 8.6-mile-long (13.8 km) route runs in mixed traffic, but does use transit signal priority. The Brio fleet consists of 60-foot-long (18 m) branded New Flyer Xcelsior articulated buses powered by compressed natural gas, able to carry 72 total passengers and feature on-board WiFi, interior bike racks, and passenger information monitors. [5] The project cost $27.1 million to implement, using local funds and a Federal Transit Administration grant. [6] [7]
Sun Metro opened its second Brio route, extending the system to Mission Valley via Alameda Avenue at a cost of $35.5 million. Further routes on Dyer Street and Montana Avenue are planned, with the former beginning construction as early as 2017. [6] [8]
The El Paso Streetcar [9] is a streetcar system in El Paso, Texas, that opened for service on November 9, 2018, and uses a fleet of restored PCC streetcars [10] that had served the city's previous system until its closure in 1974. [11] The system covers 4.8 miles (7.7 km) [12] [13] (round trip) in two loops from Downtown El Paso to University of Texas at El Paso. The system was constructed under the authority of the Camino Real Regional Mobility Authority, but when the major construction was completed, around spring 2018, it was transferred to Sun Metro, for operation and maintenance. [11] As of 2016 [update] , construction of the system was projected to cost $97 million. [12]
Make/ Model | length | Year | Numbers (Quantity Ordered) | Engine/ Transmission | Fuel Propulsion | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
New Flyer C35LF | 35' | 2004 | 0401-0425 (25 buses) |
| CNG | These buses were repowered with Cummins-Westport ISL-G 8.9L engines. |
NABI 40-LFW | 40' | 2007 | 0601-0635 0680-0699 (55 buses) |
| CNG | |
NABI 40-LFW | 40' | 2008 | 0901-0940 (40 buses) |
| CNG | |
NABI 35-LFW Gen-II | 35' | 2010 | 1001–1008 (8 buses) |
| CNG | |
New Flyer XN60 | 60' | 2014 | 14601-14610 (Brio) 14697-14699 (Fixed Route) (13 buses) |
| CNG | Most of these buses are used in Sun Metro's BRIO BRT service. |
New Flyer Xcelsior XN40 | 40' | 2014 | 14401-14424 (24 buses) |
| CNG |
El Paso is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the U.S., the most populous city in West Texas, and the sixth-most populous city in Texas. The city has the largest Hispanic population share of main cities in the U.S. at 81%. Its metropolitan statistical area covers all of El Paso and Hudspeth counties in Texas, and had a population of 868,859 in 2020.
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El Paso Union Depot is an Amtrak train station in El Paso, Texas, served by the Texas Eagle and Sunset Limited. The station was designed by architect Daniel Burnham, who also designed Washington D.C. Union Station. It was built between 1905 and 1906 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.
The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System is a public transit service provider for central, southern, northeast, and southeast San Diego County, California, as well as for the city of San Diego. The agency directly operates a large transit system that includes the MTS Bus, San Diego Trolley light rail, and Rapid bus rapid transit services. The MTS also controls the San Diego and Arizona Eastern (SD&AE) freight railway and regulates taxicabs, jitneys, and other private for-hire passenger transportation services.
The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) is a government agency that provides public transportation for Pinellas County, Florida. The authority manages a fixed-route bus system that encompasses over 40 bus routes - including two express routes to Tampa; the Central Avenue Trolley; the Suncoast Beach Trolley; and the bus rapid transit service, the SunRunner.
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El Paso–Juárez, also known as Juárez–El Paso, the Borderplex or Paso del Norte, is a transborder agglomeration, on the border between Mexico and the United States. The region is centered on two large cities: Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, and El Paso, Texas, U.S. Additionally, nearby Las Cruces, New Mexico, U.S., is sometimes included as part of the region, referred to as El Paso–Juárez–Las Cruces or El Paso–Juárez–Southern New Mexico. With over 2.7 million people, this binational region is the 2nd largest conurbation on the United States–Mexico border. The El Paso–Juárez region is the largest bilingual, binational work force in the Western Hemisphere.
The El Paso Streetcar is a streetcar system in El Paso, Texas, that uses a fleet of restored PCC streetcars that had served the city's previous system until its closure in 1974. It opened for service on November 9, 2018. The system covers 4.8 miles (7.7 km) in two loops from Downtown El Paso to University of Texas at El Paso. The system was constructed under the authority of the Camino Real Regional Mobility Authority, but when the major construction was completed, around spring 2018, it was transferred to Sun Metro, for operation and maintenance. In 2022, the system had a ridership of 65,400, or about 400 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2023.
Brio is a bus rapid transit system in El Paso, Texas, United States. It is operated by Sun Metro.
The South Central Regional Transit District operates a network of several local and intercity bus routes in southern New Mexico, serving Las Cruces, Alamogordo, Hatch/Garfield, Anthony, and Sunland Park, with three connections to El Paso, Texas, as well as serving many smaller communities along a network of eight fixed routes. Routes operate Monday through Friday, except the Yellow Line servicing Sunland Park, which operates Monday through Saturday. All routes cost $1 for adults, and $0.50 for children, seniors, students, and people with disabilities. Bus transfers between SCRTD buses are free. The service is supported primarily by federal grants and local funding from membership fees and Doña Ana County funding agreement for services.