El Paso’s transit agency, Sun Metro, opened 4.8 miles of streetcar lines last November, attracting 37,000 riders in November and 32,000 in December. Then it started charging fares, and ridership fell to 14,000 in January and 9,000 in February.
El Paso’s streetcar rust in the desert, tempting nostalgia buffs to seek government subsidies for restoration. Flickr photo from Visit El Paso.
In 1974, El Paso became the last city in the United States to replace its streetcar lines with buses. Its last line connected the city with Ciudad Juarez in Mexico, and it only kept running streetcars on the route because the Customs Service said it was easier to deal with border crossings on streetcars than on buses. Continue reading
