Bus riders & operators deserve better, city councilman says
- Click here for link to original post at TucsonSentinel.com: Cunningham: I supported free bus fares, but it’s time to admit it isn’t working | Guest opinion
NOTE: Last week, the South Jersey Transportation Authority (SJTA) announced it was spending $5 million from a new tax on New Jersey businesses to start a “free” shuttle bus system throughout South Jersey. Click here for our previous post: New “Free” Bus Shuttles Cost $5 Million. Expose Total Failure of Socialist NJ Transit. – Liberty and Prosperity
In just the past week, a wheelchair user who regularly volunteers in my office was attacked at a Tucson bus stop for the second time in a year. Days later, another rider was stabbed at a different transit stop.
These incidents are not isolated. They are part of a troubling pattern that has become increasingly difficult to ignore. Too many Tucson residents no longer feel safe waiting for, riding, or working on our public transit system.
Before I go any further, I need to acknowledge something.
I voted for Tucson’s fare-free transit policy in 2020. But over the last year and a half, I have tried five different times to start a process to review it at no avail.
I supported it because I believed it would help working families, seniors, students, and people with disabilities. I believed public transportation should be accessible to everyone, regardless of income. Those were worthy goals, and I still believe they are.
But leadership requires more than good intentions. It requires the willingness to evaluate results honestly and make changes when a policy is not producing the outcomes we hoped for. That’s why for the past 18 months I have been asking for changes to this policy.
After several years of experience with fare-free transit, I believe it is time for Tucson to change course.
Perhaps the clearest warning sign came this past weekend when Teamsters Local 104, the union representing Sun Tran operators, authorized a strike. In my 16 years on the Tucson City Council, I cannot recall another strike authorization driven primarily by concerns about safety and working conditions rather than wages.
That should concern every Tucsonan.
The people paying the highest price are often those with the fewest alternatives: the worker trying to get to a job, the senior heading to a medical appointment, the student commuting to class, the person with a disability who relies on public transportation every day.
These riders deserve better.
To be clear, fare-free transit did not create addiction, mental illness, homelessness, or violent crime. Those challenges existed before this policy and will continue to require serious attention.
It has become clear that a system with no fares or passes has compromised the social contract that is expected and has made it harder to maintain the safe and welcoming environment that riders and operators deserve.
Every successful transit system requires more than buses and bus stops. It requires expectations. Riders deserve to know that rules will be enforced, operators deserve a safe workplace, and the public deserves confidence that the system is being managed effectively. Today, too many Tucsonans believe those expectations have been lost. We need to restore them.
I now believe Tucson should reinstate bus fares. However, reinstating fares should not mean abandoning accessibility.
Any new fare structure should include free or deeply discounted passes for seniors, students, veterans, people with disabilities, and low-income residents. We should make it easier, not harder, for people who genuinely depend on public transit to access it. Furthermore, I have met with nonprofit leaders who would welcome the extra touch on a monthly basis with our low income and/or unhoused population when giving out a free or discounted transit pass. This would provide another chance to link folks up with services they need.
Compassion and accountability are not opposing values. In fact, the most compassionate thing we can do is provide a transit system that people actually feel safe using.
Tucson has invested millions of dollars in housing assistance, behavioral health programs, homelessness initiatives, and transit services. Those investments were made with good intentions. But good intentions alone are not enough. We must be willing to measure success by outcomes.
I supported fare-free transit because I believed it would help Tucson residents. Today, after seeing the results firsthand and listening to riders, operators, and neighborhoods across our city, I’m making another call for a different approach.
Over the past year, I have spoken to nonprofit leaders, transit riders, bus operators, public safety professionals, and paratransit riders. I have come to the conclusion that a fare system exists that can improve safety, expand resources, and improve the health of the transit system. The consensus from speaking with all these groups is that the status quo is not working.
Tucson deserves a transit system that is safe, reliable, and accessible to the people who depend on it every day.
Good leaders don’t cling to policies that aren’t working. They listen, they learn, and they make changes. That’s exactly what Tucson’s leaders must do now.
Councilman Paul Cunningham represents Ward 2.
