Tim Steller's column: Bus safety now a politically charged Tucson campaign issue

It’s one of the most urgent issues in the city of Tucson now.

Why wouldn’t it change the outcome of the upcoming election? Probably because it is so complicated.

On Monday, Teamsters Local 104, the union representing Sun Tran bus drivers, held a press conference at Ronstadt Transit Center in which they decried unsafe working and riding conditions on the bus. And they gave a relatively surprising endorsement: To Jay Tolkoff, the Republican running in Ward 6 against Democrat Miranda Schubert.

They did not endorse in Ward 3, the other contested council race.

The announcement came two days ahead of a Tucson City Council discussion of bus safety at the Wednesday, Aug. 8 study session, and on the heels of a series of troubling, violent incidents this year at bus stops, in transit centers and on buses. They included hatchet attacks at transit stops, stabbings at transit centers and on the bus, and a rock attack on a Sun Tran driver.

“It’s time for leadership that will reject the impact of status quo policies, and will instead move effective policies that will produce real results, ensure safety and respect experiences for operators and riders alike,” said Karla Schumann, secretary-treasurer of the union.

But if changes are going to come, it’s almost certainly going to have to come from those who put the status-quo policies in place. Even if a GOP council member, or two, is elected, they will be in the minority and having to stare into the maw of a tangle of social problems that also play out on the buses.

Everybody recognizes this complexity. What’s lacking as yet is a program for change.

Ideas floated for city

The city administration laid out options in a 10-page memo for the council in advance of Wednesday’s meeting. They include ideas such as:

• Improving bus stops by moving them where sight-lines are optimal and adding lighting or landscaping that discourages loitering
• Ensuring existing security patrols focus on the areas with the most incidents
• De-escalation training for drivers and outreach coordination with social service agencies.

Perhaps the one that intrigues me the most is the idea of a new rider card system, like the existing SunGO card, that people must use to board the bus. As it stands, you just get on and get off — it’s hard for drivers or the system to know if banned riders are nevertheless riding.

If a tap card were required, even for fare-free riding as on the buses now, that could allow Sun Tran to more easily flag and block riders who’ve done drugs, assaulted people or caused chaos on buses and at stops before.

There are many more ideas on the city’s menu, except eliminating free fares, which remains city policy at least for this fiscal year. What I found disappointing Monday was listening to the union’s and their endorsee’s proposals. In short, they didn’t have any.

“At the end of the day, we want somebody that can acknowledge and understand the systemic problem with the city of Tucson’s transit systems,” Schumann said. “We want somebody that’s going to listen to our concerns, listen to the rider and the community’s concerns, and act effectively. There’s no simple solution to any of this.”

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That’s what they think they’ve found in Tolkoff, who himself was a Teamster in his earlier life in New Jersey, he said. However, Tolkoff himself seemed strangely reticent to take a stand.

After Schumann announced their endorsement, he didn’t seize the opportunity to stand in front of the cameras and speak. And when I asked him after the press conference what his proposal is, he put it this way:

“I think the way it’s being operated right now is not a good system. Fare-free transit is like saying great education. There’s a lot of different ways to accomplish that. What we’re doing is not promoting an environment that is safe, not only for the operators, the coach drivers, but for the people in Tucson.

“At this point, it’s not my job to propose a solution. In another five weeks hopefully I’ll be in that position,” he said.

Riders feel somewhat safe

Actually, in my opinion, this is the time to propose a solution — during a campaign for the job where you can make those decisions.

Later in the day, I attended the city’s Transit Advisory Committee to hear a discussion of the safety issue and talked to Tolkoff’s opponent, Schubert. She is a firm supporter of fare-free transit who also agrees there is a safety problem in and around the buses.

She told me she is especially supportive of a Primavera Foundation pilot program going on from March through December. Outreach workers at the transit centers and bus stops have tried to link needy riders with emergency shelter, food aid and clothes. They also have been conducting surveys of riders and found that, of 300 riders surveyed, 52.7 % of riders reported feeling generally safe using Sun Tran.

This was similar to results from a city survey of 228 riders. In that survey, 44% reported feeling safe or very safe on Sun Tran, 25% reported feeling neutral, and 32% reported feeling unsafe or very unsafe. Not great results, but perhaps not as dire as the public discussion would lead people to believe.

Perhaps that is because public discussion has centered on fare-free transit and its possible link to violence and disorder on the buses. This is an unproven but somewhat logical link. When there is no barrier to jumping on a bus, anyone can and will use it, including the violent and those who are out of their heads on drugs.

Drivers say the company policy is simply to “ask once” for a person to get off the bus or correct their behavior. If they don’t, there is no consequence unless it escalates to a 911 call.

Ward 3 positions

The Teamsters didn’t make an endorsement in Ward 3, the other ward with a race, but there is a contrast in views there. Janet “J.L.” Wittenbraker attributes the increase in violent incidents near buses to the fare-free transit policy. She said in a text Monday, “The city of Tucson needs to provide security or train bus drivers to defend themselves and their passengers, or eliminate fare-free transit.”

Ward 3 Democratic incumbent Kevin Dahl has supported the fare-free policy but also called for the voters to decide on whether to keep the policy. In a text, he acknowledged the safety issues but said, “The overwhelming majority of transit riders I have spoken to support a fare-free system.” He went on, “I do not believe that charging fares will magically make the epidemic of drug use and homelessness disappear.

So it’s an important, charged issue, but maybe too complicated to upset an election. Not as simple as removing free fares, which brings its own costs and complications of enforcement, but requiring a heavier hand in enforcement of laws and standards to make the buses safer

Try turning that into a slogan and putting it on a mailer.