Sun Metro breaks ground on new transit system

A new public transit system in El Paso is expected to help residents get around a lot faster.

Sun Metro broke ground Wednesday morning on its newest project at the Glory Road Transit Terminal in west El Paso.

The Sun Metro ‘Brio’ will add a new fleet of buses to some of the busiest streets in El Paso.

Corridors will be added to Mesa Street, Alameda Avenue, Montana Avenue and Dyer Street.

Construction on the first corridor will be on Mesa St. where 22 ‘Brio’ stations will be added from the Downtown Transfer Centerto the Westside Transfer Center. The project will take about a year.

“If you take thebusfrom the downtown area to the Westside Transit Center, it takes about an hour, give or take the traffic. With this one (Brio),we’re hoping to cut that in half,” said Laura Cruz-Acosta, spokeswoman for Sun Metro.

Once the Mesa corridor is complete, construction will begin on Alameda, Dyer and Montana. All corridors are expected to be up and running by Fall of 2017.

All four projects will total an estimated $141.6 million, with aportion coming fromthe Federal Transit Administration.

Sun Metro’Brio’ will introduce residentsto a high-quality transit service that offers
benefits similarto alight rail transit.

The buses are expected to offeramenities like free Wi-Fi and real-time bus schedules for riders.