Looking at the numbers in the National Transit Data Base that Sun Metro self reports we can see that bus ridership is up since they introduced the Brio.
In the period from November 2013 through April 2014 Sun Metro had an average of 994,788 people get on a bus each month.
During those same months of 2014 through 2015 the average was 1,048,497.
That means that on average 53,709 more people boarded buses system-wide each month this year than last year.
Previously in Brio ridership numbers we wrote that according to an article in El Paso, Inc. more than 60,000 people were riding Brio each month. Those numbers are only 11% off. Many of us would consider that to be pretty good for a city department.
While the numbers are an improvement, we still have a long way to go. If we take the number of miles that the buses drive in a month and divide that into the number of people that board the numbers come out to 1.7 new passengers each mile.
Shouldn’t we reconsider the Alameda Brio? If we feel the need to improve bus service on Alameda couldn’t we do it by adding more traditional buses instead of spending $35 million of city money (not federal)?
We deserve better
Brutus
elpasospeak 
Coincidentally, this morning I pulled in behind a shiny, almost empty Brio with a flashing electronic message sign on the back end. Just as I pulled in, the words “EXPENSIVE CITY FOR BIZ” scrolled across the screen. I’m sure that wasn’t the full message, but then we never get the full story from City management and Sun Metro.
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Don’t forget that they have had ticket machine problems. I wonder what percentage of those riders were unpaid.
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I can not wait for the Trolley Folly
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The reports appear to be inflated. Every time a Brio bus passes, there’s only one or two passenagers and the driver.
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We also see on the news, the baseball games have a lot of empty seats.
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Are we really supposed to believe these numbers? Today, the Times reported that city of El Paso lost out on more than $20 million in potential funding for transportation projects because of errors in the city’s paperwork. It has happened two years in a row. Frankly, the city is not to be trusted partly due to incompetence and partly due to its lack of honesty and transparency. Take nothing the city says at face value.
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