Tucson City Manager Michael Ortega is recommending that the city begin collecting fares again for streetcar rides and certain bus rides.
In a memo prepared for a discussion on free fares at the Tuesday, March 5 Mayor and City Council meeting, Ortega has recommended “Mayor and Council to direct staff to begin the process for a return to fare collection for Sun Link and Sun Express services.”
That recommendation is for the streetcar and express service routes, not for all of Tucson’s bus routes.
Tucson hasn’t charged riders for using public transit since March 2020. Since then, the city has conducted studies, sought partners for alternative methods of funding, and done public outreach about if and how fares should remain free.
In July 2022, Sun Tran, the private operator of Tucson’s public transportation system, held a series of meetings to listen to riders and the general public, as previously reported by Arizona Luminaria. A survey of almost 2,500 local residents at the time found that 80% support ongoing free fares.
Miranda Schubert is a member of the Transit for All Coalition and the founder of the local housing and transit advocacy group Tucson for Everyone. “This recommendation [to reinstate fares] does not address the underlying problem: we must find a long-term, sustainable way to fund a public transit system that will meet Tucson’s needs,” Schubert said.
“Mayor and Council committed to finding a way to fund permanently fare-free transit in May of last year, and reneging on that promise now will lead to confusion and distrust,” she said.
Last spring, the city called for a public task force to study how to keep fares free. The city council also unanimously voted May 9 to “declare our intention to go fare-free transit.”
At the same meeting, the city council agreed on a provision that free fares would continue until there is an affirmative vote by the mayor and council to reinstate fares.
On Feb. 29, in response to Ortega’s memo, Tucson Mayor Regina Romero told Arizona Luminaria, “My preference is to keep fares free, but we need to consider all options as our academic partners have chosen not to contribute.”
Romero was referring to longstanding discussions with the University of Arizona, Pima Community College, and Tucson Unified School District, all of which have students who regularly use and benefit from free transit. Tucson has been trying to get those institutions to contribute to the costs of offering free fares.
Council member Steve Kozachik, who represents Ward 6 near the UA, told Arizona Luminaria, “Roughly 70% of riders on streetcar are faculty and students from the University of Arizona.” He said the city council asked the university to contribute to keep the fares free, but they declined.
When they went to University of Arizona President Robert Robbins, the president asked to see the numbers about the high ridership of UA faculty and students, Kozachik said. “We showed them the numbers and he still didn’t want to pay,” he said.
The University of Arizona is also facing a budget shortfall and layoffs during a financial crisis.
Free riders
The taskforce was called the Transit Stakeholder Group and it included transit users, transit drivers and operators, and community members, according to Ortega’s memo.
The stakeholder group met five times from last September through December “to discuss transit funding options and draft recommendations to address short, mid, and long-term financial strategies,” according to the memo. Summaries from those meetings are available here.
According to a report finalized at the transit stakeholder meeting in November, the group offered four recommendations for maintaining free fares.
The recommendations included:
- “Establish sustainable funding for public transit services by primarily using a combination of sales tax, property tax and service access agreements with public and private partners who directly benefit from public transit services.” Those partners include the four educational institutions listed above.
- “Seek voter approval of a sales tax increment to be dedicated to improved transit service levels.”
- Pursue “legislation that allows State revenues to be appropriated to support local public transit services.”
- Recognize “the need for a dedicated, stable source of revenue for transit operations” and develop “a potential plan for Mayor and Council to establish a Metropolitan Public Transit Authority.”
Estimating impact
Ortega’s memo also says “the effect of reinstating transit fares on transit ridership is unknown.”
The range of revenues for reinstituting different fare models is $10-$15 million, according to the memo. The estimated deficit, or funding gap, for public transit next year is the same range, about $10-$15 million.
Studies have shown that cities that implement free fares boost regional GDPs. A study from the Center for Economic Information at the University of Missouri Kansas City showed free fares would increase regional GDP between $13 million and $17.9 million.
The cost of reimplementing fares in Tucson would be approximately $420,000, according to Ortega’s report.
“I do not want fares to be reinstated at all, but we need community and council support to make that happen,” Ward 1 council member Lane Santa Cruz told Arizona Luminaria.
“We also need financial investment from our educational institutions whose students and employees depend on our public transportation system,” Santa Cruz added. “The streetcar is also an economic boost to our local businesses and we need their support and advocacy to remain fare free.”
The city council will discuss the issue at a study session on March 5 at noon and a regular meeting at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall, 255 W. Alameda St. The agendas for the meeting and study session are available online here. Both meetings are open to the public.
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