For now, the city will determine whether the region’s largest educational institution is willing to fund the free transit system after taking a closer look at how many students and employees depend on it. I’m here.

Access to the city’s public transport network via Sun Tran, Sun Link and Sun Van has been free since the city council abolished fares in March 2020 as a precaution against the pandemic. But the measure has also acted as a test run for a system that makes fares free forever, and while many city council members and public advocacy groups have voiced their support, others have criticized crime and violence. It claims to increase the number of cases of

After delaying the fare-free decision four times, the council is expected to make a final decision on June 30th.

The total cost of operating Tucson’s public transit system was about $107 million last fiscal year, according to the city. About $47 million in American Rescue Plan funds and $20 million in city general funds covered most of his transportation costs, with the rest coming from federal grants, local transit agencies, and advertising revenue. Tucson estimates he has lost $30 million in fare revenue over the past three years.

But as COVID-19 relief funding dries up, paying for free public transit will be a huge burden for the city to do alone. Instead, the city wants other frequent users to fund the fare-free system.

At Tuesday’s meeting, the city council reviewed a report from the Tucson Department of Transportation that outlines student and employee ride data for the University of Arizona, Pima Community College, and the Tucson Unified School District for the 2022-23 school year.

To find the number of passengers for each entity, staff will identify bus stops in the immediate vicinity of each location, examine data from automated passenger counters that show passenger movement through the transportation system, and locate within typical walking distance of campus. I considered a bus stop.

As a result, the estimated number of UA bus riders in 2022-23 exceeded 350,000, and 83% of Sun Link Streetcar passengers were UA staff and students, with a total of 1.4 million trips. got it.

Staff estimates PCC’s annual ridership was about 145,000 across its five campuses, including the West and Desert Vista locations, which have bus stops on campus. TUSD’s estimated number of passengers was about 407,000.

Mayor Regina Romero told the council that she had sent letters to the heads of UA, PCC and TUSD to “discuss potential partnerships.”

The university “will continue to partner with the City of Tucson to support urban transportation for faculty, staff and students,” said UA spokesman Pam Scott. She noted that the school contributes about $800,000 a year to the transportation system by paying her 50% of the cost of transit passes for staff and students.

“We will continue to discuss with City of Tucson leadership the service fees we expect to be calculated based on faculty, staff and student occupancy rates,” Scott said in an email.

PCC spokesperson Libby Howell said the community college “only recently realized the city’s interest in getting bus funding from PCC” and said more information is available. If not, it is “too early to comment”.

TUSD Superintendent Gabriel Trujillo expressed a more optimistic tone, saying in an email: We are excited about the possibility of working with the Board, Mayor and City to potentially remove this cost barrier for students. “

Several other jurisdictions across the country are working with partners to fund free fare systems. This takes into account the benefits provided to employees and students who use public transportation to commute to work or school.City manager Michael Ortega pointed out Chapel Hill, North Carolinaas an example of a transportation system that shares the cost of free fares with a local university.

“The organization has real value when it comes to student recruitment, staff recruitment, so they can provide basic services in such a way that the transport conversation becomes their asset,” said Ortega. .

The city plans to ask entities with access agreements to fund partnerships that provide discounted or free transit to employees and students to put that money into a citywide free transit system instead.

In addition to UA’s annual donation of $800,000 for student and employee bus passes, the Department of Transportation reported that PCC paid about $29,000 for bus passes in the year before the city introduced free fares, and TUSD paid about $29,000 for student bus passes. Paid about $889,000.

This report uses data from the Pima Association of Governments’ Travel Reduction Program report showing employee travel patterns to outline estimated passenger numbers for the largest employers in the region. The top three transit users in 2022 were UA employees with an estimated 27,000 rides, Raytheon with approximately 22,000 rides, and Banner University Medical Center with approximately 18,000 rides.

“If you can identify the value they bring[to local employers]and the potential for student and faculty recruitment, there is value that I can point to,” Ortega said.

The Department of Transportation report also cites other ways to secure free fares, including increasing parking fees, taxing commercial parking transactions, and increasing city surcharges for overnight stays in hotels and motels. .

At a city council debate on Tuesday, City Councilman Paul Cunningham said he would oppose hotel and motel surcharges as Tucson is “trying to bring tourism back to pre-pandemic levels” to make up for lost rates. He expressed support for obtaining business endorsements.

City Councilman Nikki Lee said he would be looking at other options, saying, “It’s clear that we don’t need the $9 million for many years to come,” he said, adding that the city’s dime alone is enough to make fares free. He said it can be maintained. City Councilman Dahl expressed her support for the free fare to boost the city’s climate resilience efforts.

Deputy Mayor Steve Kozachik said the increase was due to the business deterrent that the parking rate hike could pose to local merchants and the fact that the money raised by Park Tucson is now going to pay off debt. opposed to

Mayor Regina Romero emphasized the importance of local buy-in because “public infrastructure leverages private investment,” noting the success of the metro area following the deployment of the Sun Link Streetcar.

“Transportation systems must be viewed as a resource, not a budget hog,” she said.

Ortega said options to fund free fares will be part of ongoing budget discussions. It may provide more detailed information. The city council plans to adopt next year’s final budget he said on June 6th.