Require venues serving alcohol to provide areas for ride-share, taxi
I strongly support El Paso leaders’ efforts to combat the DWI epidemic on our roads. Most residents agree: if you drink, take a taxi, use a designated driver, or book a ride-share.
However, many large venues still lack designated drop-off and pick-up areas, making responsible choices more difficult and unsafe.
I recently witnessed this problem at Speaking Rock Entertainment Center during a large event. Security actively shooed away ride-share and taxi drivers near the entrance. Where exactly are these drivers supposed to safely pick up and drop off passengers? This multi-million-dollar, non-tax-paying establishment hosts major crowds yet lacks basic loading and unloading infrastructure for third-party transportation.
Worse, their own shuttles are allowed to park on the road and obstruct traffic without issue, while ride-share drivers providing a vital safety service are turned away.
To truly reduce drunk driving, city and (tribal) leaders must require large venues that serve alcohol to provide clearly marked, practical areas for ride-share, taxi, and designated driver operations. Easier access to safe transportation will save lives. I urge El Paso officials to address this gap.
Aaron Medina
South El Paso
Ban single-use bags, a cleaner city is within reach
For years, I have sadly watched plastic bags flutter across the Franklin Mountains, snag on ocotillo branches, and swirl through parking lots like synthetic tumbleweeds.
They collect in arroyos after heavy rains, creating blockages that worsen flooding. They litter our parks, our neighborhoods, our beautiful desert landscape and our highways. And once they’re out there, they stay out there.
A single plastic bag can take over a hundred years to break down, fragmenting into microplastics that contaminate soil and water.
It’s not just an aesthetic problem. It’s an environmental and economic one.
El Paso attempted to solve this problem back in 2010. The city passed a pioneering ordinance requiring retailers to charge a small fee for single use bags. Initially, the ordinance had limited success but was gaining momentum. Plastic bag use was slowly declining. But after a 2018 Texas Supreme Court ruling, the ordinance was struck down, and plastic bags came roaring back.
That ruling didn’t say cities can’t act — it said they can’t regulate bags under the specific statute El Paso used. The path forward is clear: the Texas Legislature must give cities the authority to address this problem locally. Our representatives should champion a bill restoring local control over single use plastics. And when that authority is returned, El Paso should act. We must push for that authority relentlessly!
Critics argue that banning plastic bags inconveniences shoppers or burdens businesses. But the evidence shows the opposite. Reusable bags quickly become the norm. Retailers adapt. Waste declines. Communities save money. And the environment — our shared home — benefits most of all.
A cleaner city is within reach. A healthier desert is within reach. All we need now is the will to “ban the bag!”
Thomas Marino
Northwest El Paso
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: LETTERS: Require venues to provide areas for ride-share, taxis
Reporting by El Paso Times / El Paso Times
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