As temperatures soar, questions arise about air conditioning on Sun Metro buses
EL PASO, Texas -- For the third-straight day record heat blasted the Borderland on Thursday with the temperature at the El Paso International Airport hitting an afternoon high of 106 degrees. With that record-breaking heat comes concerns that not all of the city's Sun Metro buses have working air conditioning.
"It was so hot I thought I was going to pass out because I was starting to get an anxiety attack. The bus driver looked hot and tired (and) he's not the only bus driver that has ridden the bus like that," said Victoria Jurado, a daily Sun Metro rider.
Jurado tells ABC-7 she's had to put up with hot rides numerous times. Now, shes fed up and wants something done about it.
"The drivers have to drive those buses day in and day out and they are not at 100% air conditioning (but) go out all the time," Jurado said.
She and her fellow passengers had to ride from the Arturo Benavides bus terminal near Cielo Vista Mall to the Nestor A. Valencia bus terminal in the Mission Valley. That ride is roughly nine miles, but takes the hot bus around 30 minutes to make the trek.
"I was getting so anxious when he stopped at one point, I had to get out of the bus, take my mask off for a few minutes then get back on the bus," Jurado explained.
ABC-7 reached out to city officials to find out what the protocol is when it comes to maintaining these buses.
"That unit spent all day in the shop today getting worked on for the air conditioner (after) the driver turned it in. We get calls about the air conditioners every summer, and here it is in the middle of August and this is the first call we've gotten," said Ellen Smyth, the managing director of Sun Metro.
While Sun Metro buses often run reliably, many of the vehicles are faced with long days and long hours that lead to them needing maintenance more often.
"Thankfully our units have been holding up pretty well. We do run starting at 4:30 in the morning, we have buses that are picking up customers at 5 and we run some of our units until 10 p.m at night. So these buses are in extreme working conditions 18 to 20 hours," Smyth said.
She added that "air conditioning is a priority. As a matter a fact we are trying to see if we can convert some evaporative air and do a piggy back with refrigeration. We are looking to see anything we can do to fix it immediately for the rest of this year."
Sun Metro serves between 12,000 to 15,000 riders a day. Sun Metro asks that riders report any problems to their main complaint line at (415) 212-3333. For bus routes and information, follow this link.
