Tucson's transit system will face a nearly $10 million funding gap if voters don't pass the 20-year regional transportation plan up for a vote in March, while transit services outside city limits would lose over $11 million, city officials warned.
Tucson transportation department director Sam Credio told the city council last month that if RTA Next fails, there would likely have to be a reduction of approximately 141 daily weekday trips, 205 daily Saturday trips and 115 daily Sunday trips across Tucson's 42Β Sun Tran routes.
Credio said city staff crafted a scenario to anticipate impacts to the city's transit system in the event that voters don't pass RTA Next, the $2.67 billion, 20-year regional transportation plan up for a vote on March 10.
Paratransit trips, which are required by federal law, would be reduced. And both on-demand and express service would be cut entirely,Β assistant city manager Kristina Swallow said in a memo.
Credio said there's about $726 million worth of transit funding in the RTA Next plan to be used county-wide, but if voters reject it, the city "would either have to cut about $10.6 million worth of transit services," or the City Council would have to find that amount in the city's general fund to make up the difference.
Staff would start the process for major service changes "immediately" and bring a proposal for the reductions to the council in April if voters reject RTA Next,Β Swallow said in the memo.
During last month's meeting, council member Miranda Schubert warned that transit cuts "should be a last resort, not the first or only scenario to consider."
"My takeaway in reading the memo was that the most obvious path to maintain current levels of transit service throughout the region is to pass RTA Next, and if we don't, then it just goes away," she said. "I just want to put to my colleagues that, I don't want to jump to the worst-case scenario and just say it's a black-or-white situation ... I think we need to be honest, and we need to be creative, and not just say 'alright, transit's on the chopping block.'"
The transportation projects under construction right now from the original RTA plan have to be finished, and funding for those projects can't be re-allocated as bridge funding in different areas like transit service, according to Mayor Regina Romero. There are people in the community who have brought up the wish for an alternative plan, but she hasn't seen "any draft plans from anyone that convince me that there is a credible plan that could supplant (RTA Next) for the votersΒ of the region," she said.
"I furiously believe that investing in ourselves is the only route moving forward. We cannot rely on the federal government to save us, we cannot rely on the state government to save us and invest in us. We must do that on our own, so for me, it would be a yes and yes (on Props. 418 and 419)," Romero said.
One person yearning for an alternative plan is Schubert, who, in a Jan. 26 op-ed published in the Arizona Daily Star, laid out her vision of Tucson in 20 years, which she says can't be achieved with the RTA Next plan in its current state.
There's about $726 million worth of transit funding in the RTA Next plan to be used across the county. It rejected by voters the city says about $10.6 million worth services would need to be cut.
"While Tucson is laying the groundwork for a cooler, more walkable, safer city, RTA Next takes us backwards, committing us to more concrete and cars, and an archaic vision of how safe cities work," she wrote. "RTA Next devotes its largest share of funding to widening, rebuilding, or constructing new roadways. These projects incentivize more cars and undermine safety and walkability. They will make our city hotter and dirtier."Β
Schubert pointed to Tucson's recent endeavors, such as the Middle Housing ordinance, the Community Corridors Tool and Tucson Resilient Together, which she says are reforms that "acknowledge the realities of climate change" and rising costs, but they rely on transportation systems "that prioritize people over gas-guzzlers."
Schubert ultimately called for a no-vote from voters on Props. 418 and 419, saying that instead Tucson should go after its own city-only, half-cent sales tax to fund transportation projects.
It's an interesting juxtaposition: Schubert is not only one of the strongest proponents on the council of continuing fare-free transit, but she also campaigned hard on prioritizing the expansion of the system.
But she would like to see voters reject RTA Next, which would almost certainly leave the city's transit system without adequate funding until a solution could be found, which, according to Credio and city staff, means severe cuts to the system almost immediately.
Not to mention the city's budget. Tucson's chief financial officer, Anna Rosenberry, told the Star's Tim Steller in December that the city likely still has a deficit of $21 million, despite cutting tens of millions in ongoing and one-time expenses.Β
Schubert, on Friday, said it's high time that other jurisdictions in Pima County help out Tucson. She said the transit system will only be facing a funding gap "if other jurisdictions can't muster the political will to take action." She pointed to the fact that the Pima County Board of Supervisors can pass a sales tax by unanimous vote, or raise property tax rates through a simple majority, and all other town councils, but not Tucson, could also approve a sales tax through a simple majority vote.
"There doesn't have to be a gap, because every other jurisdiction besides Tucson can vote to put forward a sales tax. We're the only ones that can't do that ... I think there's a lot of effort right now to close down anything besides a black-and-white discussion of, either we pass it and we have the money, or we don't pass it and we don't have the money," she said. "I don't think this should be on us. I think the city of Tucson has been subsidizing regional transportation.
"If you look at the numbers and the investment, we have seven uncompleted projects still from the first RTA that passed 20 years ago. We've been bleeding money out to the suburbs. Honestly, I think it's up to the other jurisdictions to to help us figure this out ... It's a regional problem, it shouldn't just be on the city. We've already paid enough," she said. "$400 million from the city of Tucson over the course of 20 years (has gone) to other jurisdictions. (RTA Next) is not going to fix our potholes, it's not funding transit at the level we need it to . . . We're looking at buying into a plan that's going to have us donating millions of dollars a year to the suburbs for their big roads."
RTA Next will appear as two propositions, 418 and 419, on ballots for all county voters on March 10. Prop. 418 approves the overall transportation plan, while Prop. 419 puts to voters a 20-year extension of the current half-cent sales tax to fund the plan.
Early voting begins on Feb. 11, with the last day to vote on March 10.
The last day to register in the all-mail election is Feb. 9. Ballots will be mailed out on Feb. 11, and early voting begins that day.
The RTA recommends mailing back your ballot by Tuesday, March 3, but the last day to vote in the special election is March 10.
Two virtual information sessions will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 3, from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. and from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. Register for the Zoom meetings on the RTA's website:Β https://rtanext.com/events.
Another information session will be held on Monday, Feb. 9, at the Ward 2 office in Tucson, 7820 E. Broadway Blvd., from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.
