The January 2016 meeting of the Mass Transit Department Board had some more bad news.
Sun Metro’s ridership for the first quarter of their fiscal year (September through November) dropped another 7.5% when compared to the same quarter of the prior year. Costs went up by almost 6%.
At the same meeting they considered increasing the contract for preliminary design services for the Dyer Brio to $2,276,481.00
This is just like our airport. Let’s spend more when volumes are going down.
We deserve better
Brutus
elpasospeak 
Since the Hotel Motel Tax isn’t working out so well, maybe we can institute a Brio Riders Tax to help pay for the Baseball stadium.
LikeLike
Just the opposite. They incur the cost to operate special bus runs to the Chihuahua games to help the for-profit ballclub, when in reality downtown game day parking is one of the only things the city gets a piece of.
LikeLike
Maybe if attendees at baseball games were taxed for the Brio in the price of their game tickets?
LikeLike
Maybe we can get Ms. Escobar’s minions Mr. Perez and Ms. Ordaz to sit in on these meetings and send her texts to advise them what to do and say while tattling on those in the meeting?
LikeLike
Run the buses until midnight and geezers and even teenagers might use them to get to events downtown!!!
LikeLike
Yesterday I was driving down Mesa towards downtown around 5:30 pm.
The west bound lanes ?(away from downtown) were a essentially a parking lot all the way to I-10.
Between Executive and Glory Road I counted 5 BRIO buses, 3 Regular buses ad 2 small Lift? buses all in the west bound lanes and only 1 RTS stop at Mesita.
All BRIO buses appeared to be empty.
There were NO Brio buses traveling down the east bound lanes? (towards downtown) between Resler and I-10.
It appears something more than ridership seems to be off with Sun Metro
LikeLike
Over $2 million just for “design services?” And they consider an increase??? I take it this doesn’t include any real “construction” costs. This council has become a serious joke that all these people (firms) involved in projects know they can come to for increases and added costs to already astronomical rates. “Milk it! Milk it! Milk it!” should be our new El Paso motto. Let’s get it up on the I-10 billboards.
LikeLike