Tucson might be ending free bus, streetcar rides

By Charles Borla | Arizona Daily Star (TNS)

TUCSON, ARIZ. — It could be the end of the line for free bus and streetcar rides in Tucson.

The City Council last week took the first step in what could be a return to charging riders fares when it told the city’s transportation department conduct a Title VI Fair Equity analysis to see who would be affected most if the rides were no longer free.

It will take about 60 days until it’s completed, said Sam Credio, director of the city’s Department of Transportation and Mobility.

Riding the bus and streetcar in Tucson has been free since 2020, during the pandemic.

While the analysis doesn’t mean city officials are certain to decide to bring fares back − council members Kevin Dahl and Lane Santa Cruz voted against having the analysis done − last week’s vote does show officials are open to ending free rides. Among the possible options, an across-the-board 50-cent fare, charging only for “premium” services like the streetcar and commuter lines or a return to the pre-pandemic rates, a city memo says.

“It signals to the public that we’re seriously considering reinstating fares. This contradicts our commitment to fare-free transit through fiscal year 2026,” Santa Cruz said of last week’s vote for the analysis.

Fares would only cover 8-10% of Sun Tran’s operating costs, while re-implementing fares would cost about $500,000, Santa Cruz said. “Realistically, our fare collection may never recover the $10 million” of expected revenue, which is just speculation.

The city council approved the process that could end free bus and street car rides in Tucson, while simultaneously looking for ways to avoid a return to charging riders.

The last full year fares were collected was in the 2018-19 fiscal year. About $11.1 million in passenger revenue was collected, according to the city.

Santa Cruz said during the meeting that the estimated $10 million in fare revenue is speculation, as the city has never gone from fare-free to charging again, and re-implementing them could risk ridership.

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In February, more than 1.35 million Sun Tran rides were taken along with 172,512 Sun Link rides, according to Sun Tran said in its monthly operations report, the most recent available. That’s up nearly 6% for Sun Tran and up about 1.3% for Sun Link compared to February 2024, the report said.

While ridership across transit services has improved since bottoming out when COVID-19 lockdowns began, Sun Tran ridership has never fully recovered from the summer 2015 operator strike: in fiscal year 2014-15, over 19.6 million Sun Tran rides were taken. In fiscal year 2022-23, 14.6 million rides were taken.

Alternative funding sought

The City Council also agreed to begin looking for alternative funding to try to keep the transit system here fare-free. Among the ideas discussed were partnership agreements, with businesses or educational institutions like the University of Arizona, Pima County Community College and the Tucson Unified School District.

When the council last discussed free fares at length in March last year, data showed that the university accounted for over 80% of all Sun Link rides in fiscal year 2023.

Other potential funding avenues that the council asked city staff to investigate is an advertising tax, an increase in the public utility tax rate, and a flat increase in the hotel surcharge. It also suggested an increase in parking rates and transportation funds generated by state lottery sales.

“When we were looking at these alternative funding solutions that we could have implemented some time ago, we were told to put it on pause” until the outcome of Proposition 414 was known, Santa Cruz said. Voters rejected the half-cent sales tax in early March.

“A lot of the reason why I supported Prop. 414 was because I knew that if it didn’t pass, the first thing on the chopping block would be our fare-free transit policy,” Santa Cruz said during the meeting.

Bus route could be eliminated

Meanwhile, the council last week also began the process for eliminating Sun Tran’s Route 5 across midtown. It runs from the Udall Transit Center, west on East Pima Street, onto North Tucson Boulevard then west on East Speedway to west campus of Pima Community College.

City staff recommended eliminating the route because of consistently low ridership. A city memo also noted “duplicative service” along Speedway.

Eliminating Route 5 would leave a “small gap in service,” especially out to PCC’s west campus, Credio said. That would require Route 22 to be realigned and extended to cover the PCC campus.

The changes are significant enough to require public outreach, an analysis on its effect on riders and a public hearing before going to the council for a vote.

That means it wouldn’t reach the council likely until the end of this year, said Erica Frazelle, a spokeswoman for the city’s transportation department.

Dropping Route 5 and the other changes would save the city a little over $1 million in operating costs, Credio said.

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