Sun Metro

Sun Metro
Slogan "Save money, Save energy, Save the planet
Founded 1977
Headquarters 10151 Montana, El Paso
Locale El Paso, Texas, US
Service area El Paso County
Service type bus, paratransit
Alliance Project Amistad, County Route Transit
Routes 61
Stops 2,873
Hubs 8
Fleet 159
Annual ridership 16,501,793 (2013)[1]
Fuel type Clean 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 and Sunland Park, New Mexico. The major hub is located at the Bert Williams Downtown Santa Fe Transfer Center in the surrounding block areas in Downtown El Paso.

Until 1987, Sun Metro was called Sun City Area Transit (SCAT).

History

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.[2]

Facilities

  • Bert Williams Downtown Santa Fe Transfer Center, 601 Santa Fe St.
  • Al Jefferson Westside Transfer Center, 7535 Remcon Cir.
  • Eastside Terminal, 1165 Sunmount Dr.
  • Five Points Terminal, 2830 Montana Ave.
  • Headquarters, 10151 Montana Ave.
  • LIFT Facility, 5081 Fred Wilson Ave.
  • Northgate Terminal, 9348 Dyer St.
  • Union Plaza Transit Terminal, 400 W. San Antonio Ave.
  • Mission Valley Transfer Center, 9065 Alameda Ave.
  • Glory Road Transfer Center, 100 E. Glory Road

Services

Brio

The logo of Brio, Sun Metro's bus rapid transit system.

Sun Metro began operating its express bus service, named Brio, on October 27, 2014,[3] 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.[4] The project cost $27.1 million to implement, using local funds and a Federal Transit Administration grant.[5][6]

Sun Metro plans to open its second Brio route in 2018, 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.[5][7]

El Paso Streetcar

The El Paso Streetcar is a new streetcar system under construction[8] and slated to run 4.8 miles (7.7 km)[9] from Downtown El Paso to UTEP. Streetcars will travel north on Oregon Street, turn east at Glory Road/Baltimore, then south on Stanton Street. A downtown loop will travel east on Franklin Avenue, south on Kansas Street, west on Father Rahm, and north on Santa Fe Street.[10] The El Paso City Council approved going forward with the project in July 2014.[11] Construction began in late December 2015 and is projected for completion by the end of 2018.[8] The overall project budget is $97 million.[8] The service will use historic El Paso PCC streetcars that are being extensively refurbished.

Route list

  • Brio - Mesa Corridor[12]
  • 1 Eastside Express
  • 3 Ysleta Express
  • 4 Union Plaza Circulator
  • 7 Northeast/Mission Valley
  • 9 Downtown Shopping Circulator
  • 10 Sunset Heights/UTEP
  • 11 Mesita via Kern Place
  • 12 Doniphan Circulator
  • 13 Coronado Hills Circulator
  • 14 Westwind
  • 15 Mesa
  • 16 Upper Valley Circulator
  • 17 Three Hills NW EPCC
  • 19 Resler Circulator
  • 20 Sunland Park Circulator
  • 21 Chelmont via Raynolds
  • 22 Chelmont via Chelsea
  • 24 Delta via Second Ward
  • 25 University Medical Center
  • 30 Ft. Bliss via Pleasanton
  • 32 Logan Heights via Piedras
  • 33 Government Hill via Bassett Place
  • 34 Medical Center via Cliff
  • 35 Northgate via Dyer
  • 36 Beaumont via Highland
  • 40 North Hills via Rushing
  • 41 Northgate via Piedras
  • 42 Northeast Connector
  • 43 Montalvo Park via Dyer
  • 44 Sean Haggerty via McCombs
  • 45 Transmountain EPCC Circulator
  • 46 Northeast Circulator/Rushing
  • 50 Montana
  • 51 Edgemere
  • 52 Pebble Hills
  • 53 Montwood
  • 55 Eastside Terminal
  • 58 Montana/Turner
  • 59 Eastside Connector
  • 60 Zaragoza Bridge Circulator
  • 61 Ysleta via Alameda
  • 62 Pasodale via Lakeside
  • 63 Loma Terrace via Zaragoza
  • 65 Hacienda via Carolina
  • 66 Lancaster via North Loop
  • 67 Yarborough/Lee Trevino
  • 69 George Dieter
  • 70 University Express
  • 71 Trawood
  • 72 Vista del Sol
  • 73 Pellicano
  • 74 Rojas
  • 75 Glory Road/RC Poe Express
  • 80 Northeast/Mission Valley Express
  • 83 NM Sunland Park via McNutt
  • 84 EPCC Mission del Paso via Clint & Socorro
  • 90 Park+Ride Westside to Eastside Express
  • 91 Bartlett/Centennial Circulator
  • 92 Resler/Loma de Cristo Circulator
  • 93 Thunderbird Circulator

Former Routes

  • 2 Beaumont Hospital / VA Shuttle
  • 8 North/South Circulator
  • 23 Paisano via Fox Plaza (discontinued June 11, 2017)
  • 18 Westside Express (discontinued July 8, 2018)
  • 31 Five Points Shuttle
  • 31 Fort Bliss/Eastside Connector (discontinued July 8, 2018)
  • 37 Copia Circulator
  • 54t Eastside Terminal/Trawood
  • 54v Eastside Terminal/Vista del Sol
  • 56p Eastside Terminal/Pellicano
  • 56r Eastside Terminal/Rojas
  • 57 Beaumont Hospital via Airport
  • 64 Tigua via Presa
  • 80 Clint via Alameda
  • 81 San Elizario via Socorro
  • 85 Eastside
  • 86 Central
  • 87 Westside
  • 88 Mission Valley
  • 89 Northeast
  • 101 SMART (Downtown/Oregon)
  • 103 SMART (Downtown/Alameda)
  • 204 Glory Road./UMC Express


Fleet

Active

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)
  • Cummins ISL 8.9L
    • ZF Ecomat 2 6HP592C
    • Allison B400R6 Gen-IV
 CNG
NABI
40-LFW		 40' 2008 0901-0940
(40 buses)
  • Cummins ISL 8.9L
    • Allison B400R6 Gen-IV
 CNG
NABI
35-LFW Gen-II		 35' 2010 1001-1008
(8 buses)
  • Cummins ISL 8.9L
    • ZF Ecomat 4 6HP594C
 CNG
New Flyer
Xcelsior 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)
  • Cummins-Westport ISL-G 8.9L
    • Allison B400R6 Gen-V or ZF EcoLife 6AP1400B?
 CNG

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Sun Metro Fact Sheet". Sun Metro. 2014. Retrieved October 26, 2016.
  2. ↑ Gray, Robert (April 6, 2014). "Sun Metro Eastside headquarters to open in May". El Paso Inc. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
  3. ↑ Arias, Pilar (October 27, 2014). "Sun Metro's rapid transit system Brio launches". KVIA-TV. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
  4. ↑ "Texas agency showcases new station, buses". Metro Magazine. May 27, 2014. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
  5. 1 2 "Brio". Sun Metro. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
  6. ↑ "Sun Metro and LAN Celebrate Opening of Rapid Transit System in El Paso". Mass Transit Magazine. October 29, 2014. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
  7. ↑ Rodriguez, Ashlie (December 9, 2015). "Dyer Rapid Transit System to start construction around late 2017". KVIA-TV. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
  8. 1 2 3 Ramirez, Cindy (September 23, 2016). "Streetcar work remains on time, budget". El Paso Times. Retrieved 2016-12-14.
  9. ↑ "El Paso streetcar project on schedule, on budget". KTSM. 6 October 2016. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
  10. ↑ "El Paso Development News: Council Chooses Streetcar Route". Elpasodevnews.com. June 6, 2012. Retrieved February 21, 2015.
  11. ↑ Ramirez, Cindy (July 22, 2014). "City Council moves forward on El Paso Streetcar Project". El Paso Times. Archived from the original on January 26, 2015. Retrieved February 21, 2015.
  12. ↑ http://transit.sunmetro.net/_documents/pdf/routes/current/briomesa.pdf
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