{"id":89508,"date":"2025-12-16T03:40:26","date_gmt":"2025-12-16T03:40:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/89508\/"},"modified":"2025-12-16T03:40:26","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T03:40:26","slug":"el-paso-county-to-experiment-with-zero-fare-transit-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/89508\/","title":{"rendered":"El Paso County to experiment with \u2018zero fare\u2019 transit program"},"content":{"rendered":"

EL PASO, Texas (KTSM<\/a>) \u2014 The El Paso County Commissioners Court has approved a pilot program to provide free transit services in the County, lasting through next September.<\/p>\n

The Commissioners Court approved a recommendation from the El Paso Transportation Authority (ETA) Board of Directors to provide $145,087 for a pilot program for free ETA service.<\/p>\n

The pilot program would last from Monday, Dec. 22 through Sept. 30, 2026.<\/p>\n

All ETA Paseo, Access and Andale bus services in El Paso County will have a \u201czero fare,\u201d the County said.<\/p>\n

This pilot program aims to evaluate how a \u201czero-fare\u201d transit program could increase regional mobility, reduce vehicle mileage and congestion, and improve air quality, the County said.<\/p>\n

The program is being funded with El Paso County General Fund revenues that were previously used to purchase fare collection equipment.<\/p>\n

Should the pilot continue, ETA envisions using federal funding allocated by the Federal Transit Administration to cover the cost of passenger revenues, the County said.<\/p>\n

El Paso County Commissioner Jackie Butler, chair of the ETA Board of Directors, said now is the best time to encourage County residents to try public transit.<\/p>\n

\u201cAccording to the 2020 US Census, residents in El Paso County spend about 20% of their household income on transportation annually. By offering a zero-fare service, we encourage those who drive today to experience ETA\u2019s safe and convenient service while saving on their family\u2019s budgets and helping improve our air quality.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is one of many programs that ETA has implemented since its formation in 2021, the County said.<\/p>\n

ETA has expanded its services, added new routes, passenger amenities, and technological advancements such as Google, Apple Maps, Transit and Moovit trip planners to assist passengers in using the transit system.<\/p>\n

El Paso County Commissioner David Stout, an ETA board member, said: \u201cSpending 25% of the fares collected to collect fares doesn\u2019t make any sense; ETA staff has worked hard to come up with creative solutions to get more passengers on the bus from our County residents and this could be a model for the El Paso area, as South Central Regional Transit District and Socorro microtransit is already fare free.<\/p>\n

\u201cPerhaps Sun Metro could be next. Reliable and frequent transit not only supports economic, educational, and social activity \u2013 it\u2019s also part of the solution for traffic congestion,\u201d Stout added.<\/p>\n

Beginning Dec. 22, passengers can ride any of the six ETA Paseo routes for free \u2014 providing accessible service across Anthony, Clint, Vinton, San Elizario, Socorro, Horizon City, and unincorporated El Paso County \u2014 to reach shopping, education, recreation, medical appointments, or connect to Sun Metro, the County said.<\/p>\n

This zero-fare program also expands to ETA Andale services in Clint and San Elizario as well as premium ETA Access service to and from the City of El Paso, the County said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are excited to make riding public transit in El Paso County free and easy and we hope residents take advantage of zero fare transit on ETA,\u201d said John Andoh, executive director of ETA.<\/p>\n

Historically, ETA collected on average $145,000 a year in fare revenue and spent about $15,000; this was projected to increase to $30,000, the County said.<\/p>\n

It is the goal of the zero-fare pilot to increase passenger trips, which could be reported to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) for additional federal funding to support public transit in the El Paso area.<\/p>\n

ETA staff will provide a report on its findings of the pilot program to the ETA Board of Directors during its budget process for fiscal year 2027 to determine if the pilot should be made permanent. <\/p>\n

To learn more about ETA transit services, you can call (915) 533-4731, visit www.elpasotransportationauthority.org or email director@elpasotransportationauthority.org.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) \u2014 The El Paso County Commissioners Court has approved a pilot program to provide…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":89509,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[42306,138,1060,140,139,42304,37477,42305,42308,42307,42309],"class_list":{"0":"post-89508","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-el-paso","8":"tag-county-residents","9":"tag-el-paso","10":"tag-el-paso-county","11":"tag-el-paso-headlines","12":"tag-el-paso-news","13":"tag-eta","14":"tag-federal-transit-administration","15":"tag-pilot-program","16":"tag-the-county","17":"tag-transit-services","18":"tag-zero-fare"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89508"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89508\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}