Tucson’s Mayor and City Council will meet on Tuesday to discuss reinstating transit fees.
The City Manager’s Office is recommending that Mayor Regina Romero and City Council leaders direct staff to begin the process of reinstating fare collection for both the Sun Link and Sun Express services.
Transit fees have been suspended since March 17th, 2020, in order to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19, and to help lessen the financial burden many were facing during that time. Since then, the mayor and City Council have voted five times to extend the provision.
The most recent time Mayor and City Council voted to keep transit fare-free was on May 9th, 2023. During that meeting, it was established that fares would only return if Mayor and City Council voted to approve the decision.
While it is not clear if fees would return to the Sun Tran, Mayor and City Council are expected to discuss reinstating pre-pandemic rates for both the Sun Express and Sun Link services. That would come out to $1.60 per rider on the Sun Link and $2.35 per rider on the Sun Express.
If transit fees were to make a comeback, city leaders estimate it would take 6 months to formally return to fare collection.