Southwest Area Regional Transit Grand Opening Held August 27th
By: Jose G. Landa
Copyright 2013
Southwest Area Regional Transit (SWART) held a grand opening of its newest location at 649 East Main Street in Eagle Pass, Texas on Tuesday, August 27, 2013, announced SWART General Manager Sarah Hidalgo Cook.
The Eagle Pass Chamber of Commerce and local dignataries, business and civic leaders joined the grand opening ceremony of SWART’s office in downtown Eagle Pass. City of Eagle Pass Main Street Program Director Joe Cruz welcomed SWART to downtown Eagle Pass and noted the valuable transportation services offered by SWART to Eagle Passans and Maverick Countians.
SWART General Manager Sarah Hidalgo Cook stated that SWART provides safe and reliable transit services to the general public in an eight county area including Maverick, Uvalde, Dimmit, Kinney, Edwards, La Salle, Real, and Zavala Counties. SWART’s public transportation services are opened to the public. SWART also offers disability transport services to the Middle Rio Grande Region for over 30 years. SWART receives funding from the Texas Department of Transportation’s (TxDOT) Section 5311 Rural Public Transportation Program and the Texas Health and Human Services Department’s Medical Transportation Program.
Founded in 1981, SWART has operated in Maverick County since 1997 from its offices in other counties. The growth of Eagle Pass and Maverick County riders propelled the opening of a SWART office in Eagle Pass. SWART General Manager Sarah Hidalgo Cook stated that its “mission is to provide safe, accessible, affordable, and seamless transportation services to enhance the quality of life and promote community and economic development in Southwest Texas.”
With a fleet of fifty (50) vehicles, SWART does over 160,000 medical transportation and rural public transportation trips annually, traveling over 1,350,000 miles per year in the eight county service region.
SWART Eagle Pass Operations Manager Carlos Mallen encourages anyone in Eagle Pass and Maverick County needing medical transportation and rural public transportation services to please call their office located at 649 East Main Street at (830) 757-2892.
