Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Socorro catches the Rail Runner

Argen Duncan El Defensor Chieftain Reporter, aduncan@dchieftain.com

Public transportation is now available from Socorro to the Rail Runner Express station in Belen and the University of New Mexico-Valencia Campus.

As of Monday, the City of Socorro Transportation Department has two runs to the train station and three to the Rio Communities drop off in Belen, where commuters can catch a ride with other cities' transportation to the campus in Los Lunas or somewhere else in Belen or Los Lunas.

Rides to and from Socorro cost $1 each way. Riders must make separate appointments with the Belen and Los Lunas transportation systems.

"They're going to have to buy passes once we get it going," said Program Manager Rosemary Rosas.

The City of Socorro now has two public transportation vans, one of which handles the route to Valencia County.

The route operates Monday through Friday, except on holidays.

In the morning, the van leaves the Sedillo Park tennis courts at 6:15 a.m. and then picks up riders at the New Mexico Tech Joseph A. Fidel Student Services Center. It arrives at the Rio Communities drop off before 7:15 a.m.

Then the van continues to the Rail Runner station to pick up commuters from Albuquerque on the 7:30 a.m. train and allow commuters to Albuquerque to catch the 7:58 a.m. train north. Tech employees can ride the van back to the Fidel Center.

During the day, the van leaves the tennis courts for a run to Rio Communities at 11:15 a.m., to arrive before 12:15 p.m., and departs again at 2:15 p.m., to arrive before 3:15 p.m.

In the evening, riders can catch the van at the Fidel Center at 5:15 or at the tennis courts shortly thereafter. The van doesn't stop at Rio Communities on that run.

Riders would arrive at the Rail Runner station at 6:15 p.m. to catch the 6:36 p.m. train north. Commuters returning to Socorro wouldn't have long to wait for the van, since the southbound train arrives in Belen at 6:08 p.m.

"This is a trial basis now, and if we have to establish some more routes, we'll play it by ear and see how it goes," Rosas said. "We had a lot of people calling but not too many riders yet."

On Tuesday morning, two people rode the van to Belen.

In a survey, Rosas said, many people requested a van route to the Rail Runner station, so the city transportation department employees decided to provide a way to UNM-Valencia Campus as well. A federal grant and matching city money are providing the route.

Space on the van is limited, and riders must make reservations by calling Rosas at 575-835-1501. Rosas' office hours are Tuesday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., but callers can leave a message to make a reservation.

To travel from Rio Communities to UNM-Valencia, riders need to make reservations with Los Lunas transportation by calling 505-352-3595. To travel in the Belen area, they must make appointments by calling Belen Transit at 505-864-8630.

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