For the first time since the Rio Grande Valley Traction Company ran high-speed trolleys between El Paso and Ysleta in 1926, a speedy ride between the city’s center and the valley has been approved.
City Council awarded a construction contract valued at $11 million dollars to Martinez Bros. Contractors, LLC. for the construction of the Alameda Brio system.
The Alameda Brio will offer El Pasoans a high quality rapid transit system, which will connect the Mission Valley to Central and Downtown El Paso.
The total length of this $38.3 million dollar project will be approximately 14.5 miles, and will offer El Pasoan’s many of the benefits of improved speed and reliability that much larger cities provide through light rail transit systems, but the BRIO has the added advantage of having a much lower implementation cost.
“Council’s action today is huge milestone in our efforts to improve public transit by providing another key corridor in our community with a bus rapid transit system,” Sun Metro Jay Banasiak said. “This Brio project, the second in El Paso, will enrich our customer service by allowing us to get riders traveling on Alameda Avenue to their destination much quicker than on our traditional fixed routes.”
The Brio uses modern, rubber-tire, high capacity vehicles; improved fare collection systems to move riders along more efficiently. This not only helps Brio passengers save money and reduce their carbon footprint, but they also will arrive to their destinations faster.
Brio also features 60-foot articulated buses with the ability to lengthen green traffic signals, a frequency of 10 minutes during peak hours and 15 minutes during off-peak hours, and landscaped stations that are spaced about a mile apart. The Alameda corridor will receive 29 dedicated Brio stops and 14 brand new buses, both of which will be Wi-Fi ready and ADA accessible.
The Mesa corridor was the first location to feature Sun Metro’s Brio, while Alameda will be the second location to feature the rapid transit system.
Sun Metro is also planning to construct Brio systems along Dyer and Montana in order to provide all El Pasoans with a quick and convenient mode of transportation.
