Free rides on city buses, vans and streetcars will continue for another six months, the Tucson City Council has decided, voting Tuesday to extend fare-free transit to buy more time to study whether to make it permanent.
The free rides, which began in 2020 during the pandemic, most recently were set to end Dec. 31. The new end date is June 30 as the city leaders continue a search for funding partners to cover the estimated $9 million to $10 million a year needed to keep the Sun Tran transit system free for good.
And in case it can’t find enough willing contributors, the City Council also will examine other ways to fund the shortfall such as a tax on rental cars or hotel bills or a surcharge on utility bills.
A fare-free, or reduced fare, transit system aligns with the council’s long-term goals to fight climate change by reducing single vehicle traffic and expand economic opportunities by making it easier to get around. The city already spends $53 million a year on its transit system and until now has been using federal COVID relief funds to make up for the missing fare revenue.
City officials had hoped the University of Arizona, whose students are the heaviest users of the Sun Link streetcar, might agree to provide some of the money, but that has yet to happen, said Mayor Regina Romero. She said she recently met with UA President Robert Robbins to make a pitch for funds but came away empty-handed for the time being.
“The University of Arizona is not seeing the benefit of being a big investor in public transit,” Romero said Tuesday at a council study session. However, university officials have asked the city to provide more data on the cost-per-ride for users of public transit, she said.
Romero said Tucson Unified School District officials seem willing to consider a partnership with the city but did not offer specifics. She has also proposed reaching out to Pima Community College and local employers.
City staff recently produced a report that looked at fare-free transit systems in several U.S. cities to see what has worked elsewhere. The communities in which fare-free transit was deemed successful each had a dedicated funding source, such as a financial partnership with a university or a tax of some sort specifically for that purpose.
Learn how Tucson public transit provider Sun Tran is electrifying its bus fleet.
