Sun Metro starts post-pandemic recovery strategies
EL PASO, TX – The El Paso City Council announced that the Sun Metro transit service will initiate a series of recovery actions to improve its system, increase ridership to pre-pandemic levels, and stimulate the economy by adding routes.
Improvement actions include optimizing connectivity, increasing frequency and pursuing competitive funding opportunities.
Sun Metro reported that all transit recovery efforts include service modifications that will take effect beginning Sunday, June 26, 2022.
“Sun Metro is a lifeline to our community. It supports jobs, gets people to work and essential destinations, provides workforce mobility and fosters business growth along transit routes,” said Ellen Smyth, Chief of Transit and Field Operations for the City of El Paso.
She noted that to provide better service, routes and buses will be added where there is high demand for service, and will also look to boost service frequency and eliminate duplication to improve the customer experience.
Sun Metro’s strategic turnaround efforts are bolstered by its aggressive pursuit of competitive funding. This month, the Federal Transit Administration announced that Sun Metro has received a $450,000 American Recovery Plan Act of 2021 grant to conduct a study to improve transit services through cost-effective methods designed to attract new ridership, stimulate economic activity, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the effects of climate change.
For the first time, Sun Metro will run its Brio lines on Sundays. This system was introduced in 2014 with the Mesa route, a rapid transit service. Beginning June 26, 2022, to complement the Brio routes, Sun Metro will reactivate Sunday service to routes 44, 50, 53 and 89.
In addition, vacation service will be returned beginning July 4, 2022. Other routes that will experience minor schedule or route changes include 2, 7, 8, 10, 11, 11, 19, 37, 37, 44, 50, 53, 54, 59, 59, 60, 51, 63, 64, 66, 67, 68, 69, 89 and 90. Route 87 will be introduced to accompany route 7 service modifications.
Source: MEXICONOW Staff