5 Points Depot

"A plaque at the depot says this “transit terminal” was dedicated in 2000. Before this depot, people would catch a bus in the downtown plaza and stay on it to the eastside or northeast; when the depot opened, one had to take a #31 shuttle bus from the plaza to Five Points, get off, wait, then transfer to another bus in order to keep going. Likewise, returning to town one had to wait for the shuttle at the Five Points depot. The shuttle was supposed to run every ten minutes between downtown and Five Points but was a complete disaster, that schedule only working on paper (and overlooking the occasional delays by trains crossing Montana and Yandell). Sun Metro never had enough buses to keep to that schedule, and those they had kept breaking down, leaving hoards of people stuck in the plaza or in Five Points for long periods of time. In June of 2003, for example, I waited forty minutes for one in the plaza, never saw one, and finally, on seeing the growing crowd of waiting, angry passengers, gave up. Eventually, after the near total collapse of service between approximately 2003 and 2006, and the subsequent reorganization of Sun Metro, the #31 shuttle was discontinued. The depot remains a transfer point, but with a few more options in getting there than just the unlamented shuttle." - Leo Miletich

Area: Central / Five Points

Collection: Snapshots of El Paso (1966-2012)

Source: Leo Miletich

Uploaded by: El Paso Museum of History