Bus riders at the Ronstadt Transit Center in downtown Tucson. The city's transit system has been fare-free since early 2020 as a COVID-19 mitigation measure.

 Rebecca Sasnett, Arizona Daily Star

City officials are considering a permanent fare-free transit system, an initiative that is intended to keep money in the pockets of those who rely on bus, streetcar and Sun Van rides to get around β€” but the money typical riders could save each month is about the cost of a tank of gas.

Free transit is not an entirely new idea: Rides have been free in Tucson since early 2020 as a COVID-19 mitigation measure, and the City Council later extended that moratorium until June using federal relief funds.

"My office received a lot of phone calls from Ward 5 constituents about them losing their jobs, losing their homes, getting their water, gas and electricity shut off and those losing their businesses,” Councilman Richard Fimbres said about his push to pause fares in 2020.

But as the pandemic wanes, those federal dollars will dry up. When that happens, city officials will have to spend an extra $800,000 to $1 million of general fund money each monthΒ to run the transit system if they choose to nix fares permanently.

The monthly savings for a typical transit user? About $40.

β€œIt really is a policy decision based on where (the council’s) priorities are going forward,” City Manager Michael Ortega said. β€œThere are a variety of areas that are in need of dollars, but it’s a function of where that is in terms of priority for the community, those partners, but also for the mayor and City Council.”

Brian Flagg, a founding member of the Tucson Bus Riders Union, believes eliminating fares is worth the cost to city taxpayers. He said $40 in monthly savings, while relatively small, could make a significant difference to some of the city's poorest transit users.

"It's a matter of equity and what might not seem like a lot to some people is a big deal to other people who are struggling to survive," Flagg said. "Transportation to your job and other essential things is an absolute necessity. It's not a luxury, it's a necessity. It will really help people out. It's worth it."

Tucson’s pre-COVID transit fares were already inexpensive, however. The β€œlow income” or economy rates for qualifying residents were the single lowest in the country, for example, and the city didn’t even collect enough fare money to cover its transit system costs.

But breaking even was never the goal, according to Councilman Steve Kozachik, who said the transit system was always more of a β€œsocial service” than a β€œrevenue generator.” He added that money will always need to be pulled from the general fund to subsidize public transit; now it's just a question of "how much should be coming out of the general fund?”

Before the pandemic, the City Council's goal was to reduce that general fund loss by attracting more transit customers who would, in turn, generate more fare revenue. Officials have yet to refocus on that goal, but appealing to more riders at this point might be trickier than it was.

β€œWe have had reports from some of our operators that we have people who are just kind of hanging out, and I don’t want to lose ridership because it turns into an unsafe environment,” said Kozachik. β€œI don’t want to sound heartless, but I don’t want to turn it into a taxi for the homeless who are kind of hanging out on buses and making people who would otherwise be riding feel uncomfortable riding it.”

Assaults (against riders and drivers) on city buses also tripled between 2019 and 2021 β€” from 21 to 64 β€” despite ridership decreasing by 12% in that same timeframe. The number of incidents is still low considering Sun Tran operates over 12 million bus rides each year, but the trend has consistently been on the rise since fares were paused.

Rhett Crowninshield, the city’s transit administrator, said he believes the rise in violent incidents is driven more by mask mandate outbursts and mental health issues than it is by increased homeless activity in the transit system.Β 

β€œDo we see homeless people on our system? Of course. I think that’s part of what our mayor and council are trying to do, they’re trying to help them get to health care appointments, to employment opportunities, I think that’s kind of where they wanted to go with this,” Crowninshield said. β€œWe’re trying to allow them to have some opportunities to get where they need to go.”

Kozachik said he could support the fare-free transit system if the city β€œcan put protocols in place to make it a safe environment and welcoming to anybody who wants to get on,” though he admits he’s β€œnot sure how you do that.”

Both Crowninshield and Steve Spade, Sun Tran’s general manager, said they’re working to improve security but did not provide specifics on what’s being done. Councilman Fimbres said he also has been working to address the problem.

β€œThese issues have been pre-pandemic and post-pandemic so that can’t be linked to just one factor,” Fimbres said. β€œI am working to get more security measures at the bus stops, transit centers and other items for buses.”

Ortega will make a recommendation about whether to pursue a fare-free system after considering the financial cost-benefit, the impact on community partners such as school districts, and how the level of service might be affected.

That process will be ongoing until the city's budget discussions, when council members are expected to vote on whether to eliminate transit fares indefinitely.

β€œMy responsibility is to provide them with that information, those data sets. I’ll give them options, provide them a recommendation, and then they ultimately make a call on it,” the city manager said. β€œWhen I scrub all of that data, then I’ll have some recommendations.”

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Reporter Sam Kmack covers local government. Contact him at skmack@tucson.com.