As we approach the August 5th primary election deadline for Wards 3, 5, and 6, candidates have staked out various positions on the continuation of fare-free transit. TCFC strongly advocates for the restoration of fares. Here’s why:

WARNING GRAPHIC VIDEO of violence on the BUS from yesterday below

• In 2020, Mayor Romero and the City Council implemented a fare free system in a failed effort to combat a substantial decrease in ridership due to the spread of COVID-19. The argument at the time could be broken down like a three-legged stool:

·       Argument 1: The introduction of fare free transit would limit the spread of COVID-19. The logic was flawed from the start. The alternative to public transit is cycling, walking or private vehicle transportation. The idea that buses, which transport many people in close quarters, could limit the spread of COVID-19 compared to alternatives forms of transportation is ludicrous. It defies logic to think that anyone with access and investment in a private vehicle would have been persuaded by saving a $1.75 fare to take the bus and risk COVID exposure.

·       Argument 2: Due to loss of ridership during COVID-19, public transit agencies were able to offset lost fare revenue through COVID-19 funds. The elimination of fare would be economically benefit low-income riders and the restoration of fares now would negatively impact the poorest riders. Historically, approximately 50% of Sun Tran riders qualified for the reduced fare of .75C. 

·       Argument 3: The loss of fare revenue is a small component of overall Sun Tran revenue. Partially true. Sun Tran collected $11.55M of fare revenue in 2019 from Sun Tran and Sun Link. Now that COVID 19 funding has long run-out, the City of Tucson is funding that loss of revenue. There’s no such thing as “free” and those funds could be used elsewhere and more effectively.

Hard Truths:

• Only 15% of all trips are for work/school (Sun Tran Comprehensive Operational Analysis Final Report 2024)
• Despite being free, Sun Tran ridership in 2024 is down from ridership in 2017 (15.79M riders vs 16.4m, respectively). Worse yet, Sun Tran ridership peaked in 2009 at 21.6M trips! Local public transit is in decline and free doesn’t mean better, as the ridership numbers clearly show!

• A 2022 Fare Equity Analysis conducted by Sun Tran found that:

·       68% of riders meet the requirements for a reduced fare;

·       Regarding the resumption of the prior fare structure, Sun Tran concluded: “No disparate impact for minority passengers or disproportionate burden for low income passengers was found for the suspended fares or the return to current fare structure”;

·       “The previous fare structure did not have any issues with customer accessibility or any issues concerning Title VI and fare equity”;

• Fare free transit is not free- it is politics and politics played in its worst form in a city plagued by poverty. The non-partisan Mineta Transportation Institute at San Jose State University wrote in 2022 that “Free transit is more of a campaign slogan than an effective public policy.”

• Fare Free transit is not an investment in public transit, it defunds public transit.

• Fares are an important tool in maintaining operational transit efficiency from route planning to the delivery of outcomes including strategies to reduce traffic congestion.

• Public services including government subsidized services must involve user cost sharing. Municipal water is not free. Electricity is not free. Roads are paid through by a combination of gasoline tax, vehicle registration fees, sales tax, etc. Cost sharing is required to ensure resources are used appropriately and effectively.

The Free Crime Bus is effectively a rolling cooling center and homeless shelter for the unhoused and those with substance abuse disorder and mental illness.

• Don’t believe us? Drive by virtually any bus stop within the City and some in Marana and Oro Valley. You will see a scenes of desperation. 

• Teamsters Local 104, which represents Sun Tran drivers and employees, publicly testified and released numerous letters requesting the restoration of fares as Sun Tran to restore sanity on the busses The union has no ulterior motive other than protecting the safety of its members. There are numerous examples of drivers being assaulted.

• TCFC filed a public records request for crime data from Sun Tran in 2023 that was improperly refused by the City of Tucson. TCFC is in the process of using legal counsel to force the City to comply. 

• Any employee or owner of a retail store in or around Tucson can attest to countless shoplifters using the bus as slow means of escape. The sad reality is that this slow escape is made by possible by TPD’s slow response times.

• Regardless of Sun Tran or the City’s refusal to provide data, there are numerous horrendous examples of crimes committed on the bus and at bus stops. These crimes should not be normalized:

• July 9th 2025 on the bus: assault between two females armed with knives. One perpetrator is 15 years old. 

• June 28th 2025: Sun Tran bus driver assaulted by a knife wielding man

• June 13th 2025: Knife wielding man gets on a bus.

• May 15th 2025: Man detained for fighting with an officer at Laos Transit Center

• May 12th 2025: Hatchet attack of two people including a woman at a bus stop in Sabino Canyon.

• May 4th 2025: Man assaulted at bus stop at Broadway and Pantano

• April 28th 2025: Gridley Middle School student attacked by an unhoused individual at the Sun Tran bus stop in front of the school. 

• April 2024: 13 year old girl sexually assaulted by two men she met on Sun Tran Route 17 bus. 

• April 5th at a Sun Link stop at Broadway and 6th street on a Sunday at 10am: Jacob Couch is murdered in a hatchet attack.

• March 31st 2025: Sun Tran driver reports an assault at bus stop Glenn & Campbell

• March 30th 2025: a developmentally disabled woman was raped at a bus stop on Speedway and Kolb in the presence of approximately 8 bystanders all of whom were either drunk or using drugs according to a legal filing.  

• October 2023: Confrontation on a bus at 3pm leads to a stabbing at the bus stop on East 22nd and Alvernon leading to charges of Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon  

• July 2022: Female Sun Tran driver assaulted at Tohono O'odham Bus Terminal

The Solutions:

• Restore fares including subsidized fares to return to normalcy.
• Terminate Sun Tran’s security contract with American Guard Services. Sun Tran should have its own dedicated armed security unit to patrol bus stops, stations and buses. Security should be a priority, not an outsourced afterthought.
• Start reporting crime! Sun Tran is publicly funded and the public has right to those statistics and how Sun Tran and the City are responding to transit related crime!
• Laws involving loitering at bus stops should start being enforced!

Vote!

    THOSE CANDIDATES WHO SUPPORT THE FREE CRIME BUS are:      

          Kevin Dahl (Ward 3) - Supports the free crime bus

          Miranda Shubert (Ward 6) - Supports the free crime bus

Yesterday 7/25/2025 Sun Tran               

TPD had two females in custody

Mayor Romero Historic and Current Position

2nd Incident yesterday below on 7/25/2025

https://www.kgun9.com/news/community-inspired-journalism/southside-news/tpd-woman-stabs-man-on-a-bus-at-transit-center-on-southside          

Below link is a 3rd Incident on July 9th 2025 on the bus: assault between two females armed with knives. One perpetrator is 15 years old. 

      WARNING: JULY 9th, VIOLENT VIDEO of the ASSAULT ON THE BUS - CLICK HERE

 PRESIDENT TRUMP EXECUTIVE ORDER ADDRESSING CRIME and HOMELESSNESS

TUCSON, Ariz. (KVOA) - President Donald Trump has issued an executive order aimed at addressing crime and homelessness nationwide, prompting mixed reactions from local leaders and advocates in Tucson.

The order, titled "Ending Crime and Disorder on America's Streets," seeks to provide grants and federal funding to encourage city leaders to tackle crime and homelessness. It calls for the removal of judicial mandates that limit the ability of local governments to commit individuals deemed a risk to themselves or others.

Josh Jacobson of the Tucson Crime Free Coalition was happy to see the order and celebrates its potential impact on Tucson streets.

"We’re going to need to see our elected officials move in new directions, what has happened in the past is they have been completely paralyzed and have done nothing," Jacobson said.  CLICK ON VIDEO BELOW TO SEE WHOLE STORY

WATCH KVOA VIDEO HERE or on CLICK ON PICTURE BELOW

Kevin Daily TCFC Published Opinion in Tucson Sentinel

Read opinion Piece here supporting Leighton Rockafellow, Jr, in Ward 6

CLICK HERE OR PICTURE BELOW TO READ