The Tucson City Council could decide Wednesday night whether to increase fares for Sun Tran for the first time in five years.
There are three proposals on paper, one from City Manager Michael Ortega and competing proposals from Mayor Jonathan Rothschild and Councilman Paul Cunningham. All three aim to increase revenue to help the cityβs finances while maintaining ridership.
A fourth option, officials concede, would be to reject all three proposals and leave fares at current levels.
Ortegaβs proposal would increase the base fare to $1.75 per ride and the economy fare to 75 cents per ride, starting on July 1, 2017. Those using monthly economy and regular passes would see a $7 increase.
Rothschild suggests holding the economy fare to the current rate of 50 cents per ride, while increasing the regular fare to $2 per ride. The mayor says the council needs to protect low-income riders who would be hit hardest by a fare increase.
Cunningham says the base fare should remain at $1.50 per ride because an increase could discourage βcasual riders.β Instead, Cunningham wants to increase the economy fare to 75 cents over the next four years.
While 70 percent of Sun Tran riders are low-income, a much smaller portion actually pays the base economy cash fare.
Cunningham believes future rate increase should be based on a formula that makes any increase moving forward easy to understand.
The plans by Cunningham and Rothschild would be fully implemented by July 1, 2020, three years after Ortegaβs proposal.
In the last four years, the cityβs annual budget contribution to keep Sun Tran running has skyrocketed by $9.4 million, rising from $18.7 million in the 2010 fiscal year to $28.1 million in fiscal year 2014. During the same time frame, revenue from riders dropped by $3.7 million.
