AZ: Tucson bus, streetcars to stay free for riders

Tucson’s transit system will remain free for riders.

An effort to return to charging users of Sun Tran, Sun Link and other public transportation options was rejected by the city council in a 5-2 vote. Council members Paul Cunningham and Nikki Lee were the only two who voted to bring back fares.

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

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

Lee said she supported the city manager’s recommendation that would have brought back the 2018 fare structure, along with capped fares and a low-cost or fare-free option for low-income riders.

The main concern Lee shared was about the amount of money contributed out of the city’s general fund to keep fares free. She said the city contributes about 9% of the general fund for fare-free transit, while cities like Phoenix and Tempe pay nothing “because they tax themselves” to pay for it.

Tucson bus, streetcars to stay free for riders

The city council has rejected an effort to resume charging fares to riders of Tucson's Sun Tran, Sun Link and other public transportation.

“My concern broadly speaking, as we look at the budget and the deficit, is how can we get to a better-balanced general fund contribution that is more in line with our peer jurisdictions, through maybe a ballot initiative to fund transit like other communities have,” Lee said.

Tucson Mayor Regina Romero also expressed interest in a ballot initiative to fund the transit system.

“My response to people that ask me about the roads and the mobility options, is that ( Phoenix) and valley cities have chosen to invest and tax themselves for those things,” she said. “Unfortunately, Tucsonans have not wanted to go there. So we have to have a conversation with the community, what are they willing to pay for?”

In Maricopa County, for example, county voters first approved a half-cent sales tax in 1985 to fund transportation. That tax was renewed by voters in 2004 and again in 2024, which will last through 2045.

“I don’t think we can be a city of ‘no.’ We can’t just be saying ‘no’ to everything all the time,” Romero said.

Cunningham too supported the city manager’s recommendation.

Even if fares only brought in an estimated $9 million, that could be used to reinvest into the system because “we just need more resources for the bus,” he said.

“Moreover ... there’s kind of an elephant in the room here with the bus right now, and that is the situations we have at both stops and on the bus, and the safety of our drivers, and I think that’s things that really need to be addressed,” Cunningham said.