City Council discusses streetcars’ hours of operation today

UPDATE: City Council members passed 4 separate motions, 3 of which were brought by Rep. Chris Canales, to come back and revisit the topic with new data.

The first motion directs city staff to conduct an economic impact analysis to assess the past, present and future economic development impact of the Streetcar, including potential future expansion, as well as the impact on our existing transit oriented development incentive program agreements, and to return within 90 days. It passed 6-2 with Kennedy and Annello voting no.

The second motion directs city staff to conduct an assessment of the impact that different models of Streetcar operating hours have on transit access in the downtown and uptown areas and return within 90 days.

The last motion brought by Canales directed city staff to conduct an assessment of the projected cost saving to the Streetcar system that would result from the elimination of regular operating hours in favor of event-driving operation only and return within 90 days. It passed unanimously.

Lastly, council also passed a motion directing the city manager to bring the item back in 90 days to maximize streetcar operations.

UPDATE (12:04): About 15 people were set to speak during council Tuesday, most of them against item 17 on the agenda. Council is still discussing the item after public comment.

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- According to the agenda item, the focus of the operation should be event-driven programming by the city of El Paso during high-impact events.

It states, the yearly expenses for the streetcar do not seem prudent based on the ridership analysis.

City Council will make that decision today, we will update you once council comes to a conclusion.

For opinions on the streetcar operations: https://kvia.com/top-stories/2023/04/10/el-paso-streetcars-future-operating-schedule-to-be-discussed-tuesday/