Well I’ve ridden the Brio a few times now.
The experiences were pleasant and I intend to continue using the Brio when I need to go downtown.
I left the Coronado shopping center at about 7:15 in the morning the other day and arrived at the library, ball park stop 15 minutes later.
The bus was clean, the operator was friendly and there was plenty of space for me.
I was surprised by a few things.
Normal buses try to keep to a rigid schedule. If a bus is supposed to be at a stop at 7:10 and it gets there early we will often see the bus idling and waiting so that it does not get ahead of schedule. The Brio buses do not do that. With another bus coming only 10 minutes later during peak times, the Brio does not need to slow down. The driver passed empty stops and drove at full speed toward downtown.
The Brio bus will also move into the center lane on Mesa in order to pass a regular bus that is idling to keep on schedule.
I returned at about 3:30 that afternoon. Traffic on Mesa was pretty heavy but the trip only took 20 minutes, not much slower than taking my own car.
The practicality of the money we have spent and the inconvenience we have endured during construction are a different matter — we will address that in another post.
We have spent the money and built the system. I see no reason to boycott the Brio now that it is in operation.
Quite simply sometimes the Brio is a better alternative than driving.
Brutus
elpasospeak 
How is that better or saving cost? Two bus systems, a trolley car, an overhead rail system. Add the cars. Passed a Brio bus and regular bus and bicycle lanes. All three had a common denominator,
empty !
LikeLike
So how does the Brio benefit the rest of the city that doesn’t live along the Mesa/ Downtown route? Not a bit, right?
LikeLike
Someone is calling for a boycott? Silly. Unfortunately for me I will not benefit from this system unless I drive two miles to get to Mesa & find a place to park my car for a couple hours. I am sure it will be a nice feature for those who live far enough out along the westside and near enough to Mesa. Yes, I do have to ask…was this the best use of $27 million? Wait till the construction begins on Montana…
LikeLike
What’s $27 mil? It’s only money. Plus, our fearless leaders would have you believe that most of it was “free” money.
LikeLike
Brut, l don’t mean to bust your e-balls, but l’m going to have to agree with the previous post-ers on this one. lt’s like l’ve stated on Max’s blog a few weeks ago, where l pointed out that this might make sense 25 years from now when we have a population of a couple of mill. And l doubt that during shopping season that you’re going to have a lot of peeps walking and waiting at a bus stop, even for a few minutes, with a bunch of (junk) presents in there arms knowing that when they get off the bus that they’ll still have to do more walking in the cold with their arms full. l’m not surprised that on 10/27, that our newsLESSpaper didn’t mention the annual/daily costs for one of those contraptions. Hell, it probably would have been less wasteful if we enticed the private sector with a modest subsidy to run more buses. No one is suggesting that we boycott the BRIO because there is no difference between going bankrupt at 101 mph or “just” 100 mph.
LikeLike
We agree. A later post will talk about the failed economics.
My point here is that it is nice.
Thanks for contributing to the public dialogue.
Brutus
LikeLike
And thank you for having BY FAR the best blog in the 915. I just searched sunmetro.net and they did a good job of explaining everything EXCEPT the (estimated) annual budget for BRIO. l’m sure there forgetfulness was just an honest mistake. (cough cough)
LikeLike
In the absence of a “like” button will second your compliments to Brutus…
LikeLike
Brutus should install a rating system based on 1-5 Bones, with 5 being best.
LikeLike
Throw the old dog another bone!
LikeLike
A couple of million people in El Paso? Where will the water come from for that? We have probably already reached the sustainable population, if not surpassed it.
I lived in Buenos Aires prior to El Paso…there was a rudimentary subway system but an amazing bus system, privately owned routes – no matter where you were in the hugely sprawling city you were never more than one or two blocks from a bus route (there were 370 of ’em). Many were converted school buses, entertainingly decorated. Everyone but the very richest used the buses!
LikeLike