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Commissioners approve $167,453 to advance county transit operations facility design as ETA lays out expansion plan
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Summary
The commissioner's court authorized $167,453.61 to fund 60% design of a planned El Paso County transit operations and maintenance facility and approved related interlocal amendments, after hearing a detailed Texas A&M Transportation Institute briefing on ETA service expansions and funding needs.
El Paso County Commissioners on March 23 approved an appropriation of $167,453.61 to advance design of a county transit operations and maintenance facility to 60% and authorized interlocal agreement amendments to continue engineering through the Camino Real Regional Mobility Authority.
The action came after a lengthy presentation from the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) and an update from John Ando, executive director of transit operations, who said the county is pursuing outside grants to fund later phases. "By adding this additional $167,453 dollars to that interlocal agreement," Ando said, "EPATS has to procure capital related items in the future to perhaps support this operations facility... which would then reduce the county's contribution overall to EPATS." (John Ando).
Why it matters: county leaders and transit consultants described an aggressive Transit Development Plan in which ETA (El Paso Transportation Authority) would expand fixed routes, add demand-response zones, continue a microtransit pilot, and explore volunteer-driver and bike-share programs. TTI27s funding model showed FY26 local shares were lowered by a one-time fund balance; without that balance commissioners were warned, local contributions could rise in FY27.
TTI27s funding presentation and county discussion TTI walked the court through five prior studies and the TDP that underlie ETA27s expansion recommendations, including: fixed-route and ADA paratransit service expansions, a general public demand-response transit (GPDRT) suite, and pilot microtransit in San Elizario and Clint. Michael Walk of TTI explained the allocation method: fixed-route costs are billed per mile, ADA paratransit on a per-person basis, and admin/planning as a share of assigned costs. Walk gave FY26 as an example year when an available fund balance reduced local share from about $1.6 million to roughly $600k.
Commissioners pressed on local burden and fare policy. Several members expressed concern that small municipalities (for example, Clint) could face difficult budget choices if fund balances are not available. Commissioners and TTI officials said ETA is pursuing a change to the urbanized-area federal funding allocation (through Sun Metro) that could grow federal drawdown if the policy becomes more performance-based.
Design, grants and next steps Raymond Tayes of the Camino Real Regional Mobility Authority told the court the RMA purchased the parcel for the transit facility (acquisition completed Nov. 2025) and has progressed to 30% design. He asked for an interlocal amendment and reallocation of existing right-of-way savings plus a county contribution of about $167k to reach 60% design. The court approved the appropriation and authorized the county judge to sign Amendment No. 3 to the interlocal with the RMA and to add EPATS (El Paso Area Transportation Services LGC) as a party.
On construction funding, RMA and county presenters said they are pursuing TxDOT and other capital grants; presenters referenced both a $12 million TxDOT grant and earlier referenced construction funding awards in public remarks. Those program-level numbers were discussed in the hearing and are recorded here as spoken by RMA/ETA staff; the court authorized continuing design work while seeking full construction funding.
Votes and formal actions The court voted to appropriate $167,453.61 and carried three related motions authorizing the interlocal amendment and recognizing a like amount as a future in-kind match to EPATS. (Motion texts and fiscal-account lines were read into the record before roll-call approval.)
What27s next Staff will pursue TxDOT and partner funding to complete design and then move toward procurement for construction once full funding is secured. EPATS and county staff said they will continue board-level negotiations with Sun Metro and municipal partners about future local shares and service levels.
Sources and attribution Direct quotes and budget figures in this article are drawn from presentations and remarks recorded in the March 23, 2026 El Paso County Commissioners Court meeting, including statements by John Ando, Michael Walk (TTI), Raymond Tayes (Camino Real RMA), and county staff.
