April 21, 2026 - Mayor and Council: They don't want to hear from you!
Tucson Crime Free Coalition Newsletter April 21st, 2026
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KANSAS CITY ENDING FREE BUSSES
The City of Tucson uses Kansas City as a model for Free Fares, but there is a catch - Kansas City is bringing fares back on June 1st after facing many of the similar problems Tucson has.
“I’m ready because there’s just a lot going on the busses so, I’ll pay the two dollars or whatever it is so I can ride peacefully,” said Keon Jordan, a daily RideKC bus rider."
“Fares represent an important revenue generator that helps support on-street service. We believe that restoring fares will improve the overall rider experience for everyone,” Tyler Means KCATA’s Chief Mobility Officer."
Read the article here: https://www.kctv5.com/2026/01/15/ridekc-reinstate-bus-fare-end-free-ride-period-this/
It’s hard to tell if Mayor Romero and the City Council know Kansas City is restoring fares, or if they are just conveniently ignoring this fact.
Free fares failed in Kansas City and have failed in Tucson- the difference being that Tucson is willing double down on its failures like it has with everything else (economic stagnation including negative job growth, roads, unusable parks & recreation centers, etc).
April 21 Council Meeting: They Don’t Want to Hear From You!
At today’s Mayor and Council meeting, free transit was back on the agenda.
And once again, the outcome told us what we have known all along. This Mayor and Council is not working on behalf of all of us and is driven by agenda based politics over everything else.
Council Member Lane Santa Cruz made a motion to keep fares exactly as they are, free. Santa Cruz touted all of her perceived benefits of the free fare system, yet never gave thought to the issues with crime and drug use that Tucson has become accustomed to seeing on our streets and busses on a daily basis.
Council Member Nikki Lee made a separate motion, immediately seconded by Council Member Paul Cunningham, to do something pretty simple: ask the community and stakeholders for input. Mayor Romero opined at length that had they chosen to get community input, she felt the rooms would be packed with organized opposition, one could interpret that as she doesn't want to hear from people that don't share her perspectives. So if you take time out of your day to show up and speak, you’re dismissed before you even open your mouth.
“Fare Free Transit: Let the Voters Decide” - Kevin Dahl. Councilmember Dahl wrote an article with this title in April of 2025. The article was focused on Prop 414 which would have raised taxes to fund City pet projects like Free Fares. The voters did decide and voted it down by a margin of 70%-30%.
Dahl was nearly silent today.
On social media, even people who don’t agree with TCFC on topics, acknowledged “restoring fares might be the one thing we agree on.”
A roll call vote was taken. There was support from Councilmembers Lee, Cunningham, and Barajas who all said they felt constituents and stakeholders should have the opportunity to weigh in. Yet the motion was opposed by Mayor Romero, and Council Members Dahl, Santa Cruz and Schubert (who wanted to leave fares free until April of 2028 without further discussion). No real surprises here.
The motion failed 4-3, they voted against hearing from you.
We do need to give credit where credit is due, Lee, Cunningham and Barajas tried to hear from the community, which TCFC is grateful for.
However there was another critical part of the conversation. After Mayor Romero once again voiced her negative rhetoric about Doug Ducey and the flat tax killing the budget of Tucson, she went on to say the County and surrounding jurisdictions don’t pay their fair share (according to Mayor Romero nobody does), toward the maintenance of transit and that more money needs to come to Tucson from these other jurisdictions. This Mayor and Council love to be victims and play the blame game.
However this could present an opportunity. The City is still strapped for cash and will likely formally request other municipalities/jurisdictions for transit maintenance funding. This is an opportunity for neighboring jurisdictions to use the power of the wallet to demand that the City restore fares and accountability to Sun Tran. Members who live outside the City- call your elected leaders and tell them “no more hard earned tax dollars to fund the free crime bus.”
On an amusing note, Council Member Santa Cruz wants businesses and people to “adopt-a-bus stop,” to clean and maintain them. We are waiting for the Ward 1 staff to take the first one, perhaps at Ft. Lowell and Stone, in case they truly want to lead by example. (Yes we know that is in Ward 3).
We will stay engaged and bring updates as we receive them, but for now the Free Crime Bus rolls on.
Thank you for your support and continuing this journey with us.
— Tucson Crime Free Coalition
I agree that there is crime, homelessness, and drug use to address in the city, but I don’t agree that free busses are to blame. Crime and drug use are symptoms of wider problems that have nothing to do with a free bus service. I support addressing the underlying issues of poverty and wealth inequality and I think we will find that equating a free bus with crime is a false equivalency.
I don’t know what the arguement is to keep the no fare system. They are so out of touch with the real world. I hate to say it this way but – they are a bunch or f___in idiots.
I am so disappointed with Tucson elected officials – It is embarassing that there are very sick homeless people in every area of our city panhandling when I bring guests to town – to say nothing of the fact that my business was robbed to a level that put me in the hospital with stress and worry. In addition my husband was attacked by knife by a homeless person who arrived in front of our business on a bus. Please people, I am so disappointed in you and I have no idea what you are thinking. Every building on our block has been vandalized, victimized and scared. We all have to lock our doors and no longer have a free traffic flow in and out. A client who moved to Buckeye came back to see their accountant, she was shocked his door was locked as were the two other businesses she had come to visit. Having grown up in Tucson she was shocked, and I am shocked every day, now we have homeless people who travel the city at their leisure on our free buses setting fires. I have dealt with one in my alleyway and my rental property was robbed of the washer and dryer. The list never ends. It was a joke to ask me to answer a survey if I had any unreported damage, theft, vandalism, etc. There is so much I don’t even bother to call the police. The one simple thing you can do to make our city safer and help with the budget is make the buses safer and charge to use them. No way would I consider getting on a bus now if you paid me to use it.
I cannot imagine waiting at the bus stop at Ft.Lowell/First Ave. Nor can I imagine getting on that bus!
Citizens of Tucson have a right to expect the city to properly care for those buses and bus stops so we can feel comfortable using that transportation. FREE is not working! When you can see something does NOT Work, it is time to change course.
Stop free rides. Too much crime!!!
Low income can get a free pass or reduced fare after they apply.
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