Following up on the state of the Brio system, some promised features are not in operation.
Honor system
While you are supposed to pay for your ticket at the kiosk inside the bus stop, the reality is that the fare box inside the bus is not being used. Just get on the Brio and wave at the driver. The city tells us that from time to time they will have “ambassadors” on the bus that will ask you to produce your ticket. So much for efficiency. From their web site:
- During the months of October through November, failure to show proof of payment will result in being given a verbal warning and required to pay the fare at the farebox.
- Effective the month of December, failure to show proof of payment will result in being escorted off Brio and required to pay the fare at the Brio ticket vending machine.
- Effective the month of January, Sun Metro will implement a graduating fare evasion policy that could include a verbal warning, written warning or transit fines.
Credit cards
If you are inclined to actually pay for your trip you will need to use cash at the kiosk. The credit card readers are not functioning or at least they have not when I tried them. The fare boxes and credit card machines are items that we have paid for, evidently because someone wanted the money.
Next bus
The Brio web information originally told us that one of the features of the new bus stops is that they would have a display device that would tell us when the next bus would arrive. We have the display devices. They do not provide arrival information. One of the realities about our governments using web pages to provide information is that they can change what they tell us anytime they want to.
We deserve better
Brutus
elpasospeak 
The honor system. In El Paso, Texas. Sheeeesh.
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Well, someone suggested that they make the buses free. Maybe this is the first step.
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The more I drive past the new Brio stops, the more I realize just how poorly they were designed. Yes, they have a roof, but they provide no real shelter from wind or rain and only limited shelter from the sun. Some of the old, smaller stops, which were built for a fraction of the cost, actually provide more protection. What a waste of millions and millions of dollars.
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