Sun Metro Downtown Transfer Center

The building is the Sun Metro Downtown Transfer Center located 601 S Santa Fe St El Paso, TX 79901 Sun Metro Mass Transit Department, simply known as Sun Metro is the public transportation provider in El Paso, Texas. Consisting of buses and para transit service, it is a department of the City of El Paso. (Until 1987, Sun Metro was called Sun City Area Transit (SCAT)). The history of Public transportation in El Paso began with trolley service in 1881. At that time, horse and mule-drawn trolleys operated throughout the city and between El Paso and Juarez. One of El Paso’s favorite streetcar mules was Mandy. She was widely known and loved throughout the city. One story concerns a traveling salesman who was a passenger on Mandy’s trolley one hot afternoon when Mandy decided to stop for awhile and rest. The impatient passenger told the trolley operator he was in a hurry and asked why he wouldn't hit the mule and make her go. "Hit Mandy?!" exclaimed the driver, "why if I was to lay a hand on that mule the town wouldn't stand for it." Presumably Mandy got her rest and the salesman eventually got to his destination. With progress came the end of the old trolleys. They were replaced by electric streetcars which were, in turn, replaced by buses. At that time, public transportation was handled by three privately owned transit lines: El Paso City Lines, Lower Valley Lines and Country Club Bus Lines. Mass transit between El Paso and Mexico continued until 1973. Recently, a private business, the Border Jumper Trolley, has once again begun transporting passengers between El Paso and Juarez. Sun City Area Transit (SCAT) was born in 1977 when the city of El Paso bought out the three existing public transit lines; and in 1987, El Pasoans approved a one-half cent tax increase dedicated to funding transit within the El Paso city limits. At that time, the transit system was changed from Sun City Area Transit to Sun Metro. Today, Sun Metro operates 166 Fixed Route Vehicles, 65 LIFT vehicles and serves more than 15 million passengers a year. Sun Metro also operates a large natural gas fueled fleet, which at one time was the world’s largest operating mass transit fleets. (Source: http://www.sunmetro.net/about-history.html)

Creator: victor ramirez

Area: Central / Downtown

Uploaded by: El Paso Museum of History