El Paso Streetcar’s future operating schedule to be discussed Tuesday

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) – On Tuesday, El Paso City Council is set to discuss and take action to adjust the El Paso Streetcar schedule to be event-driven.

According to the agenda item, yearly expenses for the streetcar do not seem prudent based on the ridership analysis.

The item states the focus of the operation should be event-driven programming by the City of El Paso during high-impact events.

Some El Pasoans tell ABC-7 they were shocked to hear this put on the agenda.

“These across the United States have utilized fixed rail mass transit like streetcars, like light rail, as a way to help redevelop and focus investment on different parts of the city,” said Peter Svarzbein, former El Paso city council member and former mayor pro-tem. “So at a time where our city council has chosen to, you know, want to focus on Union Plaza in terms of heritage tourism and historic tourism, I think it sends a lot of mixed messages in terms of what we're doing with our history.”

In 2014, a $97 million grant from the state was provided for streetcar restoration and implementation.