News

City gets more buses
Riders, drivers appreciate the new wheels
Charles K. Wilson
El Paso Times


Photos by Victor Calzada / El Paso Times

Sun Metro driver Luis Del Castillo, right, assisted rider Martin Corral as Del Castillo waited to depart from the Mills Street stop in Downtown El Paso. Sun Metro expects the remainder of its new buses to be on the road next month.


A new Sun Metro bus left its stopping point Tuesday afternoon in Downtown El Paso.

Sun Metro's nearly $9 million effort to put new natural gas-fueled buses on El Paso's streets is almost complete.

The last of 25 40-seat New Flyers is expected in this week, and Sun Metro officials and riders like the new wheels.

"These are much nicer," Westsider Carolina Carrillo said as she nodded at a pair of New Flyers while waiting Downtown on Tuesday for her ride. Carrillo, who rides Sun Metro four times a week to work, said the ride was smoother on the new buses than on the older, longer buses, which are still on city streets.
"They're running great," Sun Metro Director Terry Scott said. "I've heard no complaints." But Scott said Sun Metro would seek some refunds from the manufacturer for late deliveries.

Sun Metro community relations director Camille Salcido said 18 of the 24 buses that have been delivered are on El Paso roads. Tuesday, the new buses were running to Beaumont Army Medical Center, Chelmont, Delta, Country Club, and on express routes to the West Side and Ysleta.

Salcido said the rest of the buses would be on the road by mid-February, once they are equipped with radios, tracking equipment and Sun Metro logos.
The 25 New Flyers, 35 feet long and built in Minnesota, are part of an effort to replace or upgrade 70 older buses. Another 25 are to be converted to natural gas power, and the last 20 will be replaced by larger buses at some point.
Scott said some have noted the smaller size, but added that Sun Metro wants variety in the fleet.

"They're a midsize bus," he said. "That gives the system more flexibility and makes it more efficient."

On Tuesday, Carrillo and others also learned patience as they waited to board.
The new coaches can be lowered so that a wheelchair ramp can be extended for disabled riders, and several took advantage of the service as buses worked their way through Downtown.

But the wait was less important than timeliness, Carrillo said. "I wish their times (arrivals) would be more precise," she said, the last to board a standing-room-only Westside Express.