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Vaughn, 86, occasionally takes Sun Tran for routine errands, but earlier this year, he began a systematic tour of the city鈥檚 bus routes. He started with Route 1, and on Tuesday got up through Route 11, riding a crowded bus down South Alvernon Way and Palo Verde Road, along Ajo Way and to the Laos transit center.

Then he rode back.

鈥淚t gets me out,鈥� Vaughn said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 fun to see the people and really get a feel for the city.鈥�

Photographer Mamta Popat and I traveled with Vaughn Tuesday on what turned out to be his busiest bus ride yet. At its peak the bus had 30 or more people on board and was standing room only.

Vaughn got a view of it all from his seat in the front of the elevated rear section of the bus, his favored spot. As to whether he鈥檚 had hassles on the bus, Vaughn said 鈥渘one 鈥� no problems at all.鈥�

His experience runs counter to a narrative that has grown stronger during this city election season. Since fares have become free, some say, Sun Tran has become the 鈥渃rime bus,鈥� where people take drugs, escape with stolen property and even assault drivers or passengers.

During a Sept. 30 City Council candidate forum, Ward 1 Republican candidate Victoria Lem told of how her special-needs son stopped riding the bus.

鈥淗e used to use the Sun Tran city bus to get to and from work,鈥� she said. 鈥淗e was taught how to do that. However, since it鈥檚 become free, it鈥檚 become a crime bus instead of a good, reliable, affordable mode of transportation.鈥�

Republican candidate for mayor Janet 鈥淛L鈥� Wittenbraker asserted at a forum Oct. 7 that 鈥渃rime has gone up exponentially on our buses with the fare-free transit.鈥� She said the first thing she would do as mayor would be to ask the council to return to charging fares.

Independent candidate Ed Ackerley has also called for ending fare-free bus rides, but he said he would maintain them on the streetcar.

鈥楥rime bus鈥� doesn鈥檛 match experience

For me, it鈥檚 been tough to reconcile my experiences on the bus and streetcar with the 鈥渃rime bus鈥� label applied by some candidates, as well as the Tucson Crime Free Coalition, a group advocating changes in local public-safety policies.

My rides have been largely uneventful, but I am only an occasional rider of public transit 鈥� maybe a few times a month 鈥� so my experiences aren鈥檛 necessarily representative.

Still, in my conversations with more regular bus riders, I have received mostly blas茅 responses. In general, they haven鈥檛 had the alarming experiences of assaults or drug-use that led to the 鈥渃rime bus鈥� nickname. It鈥檚 also possible that they are thicker-skinned than the average Tucsonan who buzzes around town alone in their car.

The drivers鈥� union says it鈥檚 been bad, though. In a May, 2022 letter the secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 104, Karla Schumann, blamed fare-free transit for a decline in ridership by average Tucsonans going to work, school and appointments, and an increase in crime. She advocated for re-imposing fares.

Last week, though, Schumann noted that drivers are instructed only to ask passengers for fares once, and not to escalate if passengers refuse.

鈥淐ollect fares, don鈥檛 collect fares 鈥� it really doesn鈥檛 matter,鈥� Schumann told me. 鈥淭he people that are problematic to the ridership, to the community, they鈥檙e not going to pay the fare regardless. They鈥檙e not rule-followers.鈥�

What鈥檚 most needed, she said, is a stronger effort to improve security. Although Sun Tran and the city have beefed up patrols at transit centers and on buses, it hasn鈥檛 been enough, Schumann said.

Free fares not main problem

This isn鈥檛 just because of everyone鈥檚 need to accurately assess their risks, or because elections may ride on it. We鈥檙e also talking about money.

Now that federal money that flowed during the pandemic has run out, it costs around $9 million per year to run the system fare-free. Fares don鈥檛 make up much of the total cost of operating our transit system 鈥� about 8.7 percent 鈥� but that money has to come from somewhere.

The city has been appealing to outside institutions like the University of Arizona, Pima Community College and Raytheon to help bear that burden, but there鈥檚 no long-term funding source yet. As of now, the free fares will conclude at the end of December.

Council member Lane Santa Cruz, the incumbent Democrat representing Ward 1, has been one of the leaders on the council advocating for finding a way to make free fares permanent. She told me she feels more concerned about safety when she鈥檚 in crowds.

鈥淧rior to the pandemic, the No. 1 safety issue for bus drivers was fare collection. Once the pandemic hit, it was masks 鈥� asking riders to wear masks,鈥� Santa Cruz said. 鈥淲hen I have been on the bus and I鈥檝e talked to people, they have expressed that their concern would be if we went back to fare collection, the confrontations between drivers and passengers would create an unsafe situation.鈥�

Maybe the problem isn鈥檛 so much the free fares, but the problems that emerged in society during the pandemic and coincided with free fares. That, plus our inadequate response to public drug use, fighting and disorder, may be what is really keeping people like Lem鈥檚 son off the bus.

In an interview, Lem said her son鈥檚 ability to ride the bus 鈥済ave him a lot of freedom鈥� that has now been taken away.

鈥淗e鈥檚 not a violent kid. He鈥檚 not a street-smart kid. He needs to be protected out there.鈥�

Risk perceptions differ

If we can鈥檛 protect people like Lem鈥檚 son, we may not be able to get up to the ridership levels of the pre-pandemic years, when fares were required, let alone to the high usage levels you鈥檇 expect from a free transportation system.

Sun Tran ridership was at 15.2 million in 2018 before dropping a bit in 2019, then descending to 10.9 million in 2021. It was back up to 13 million in 2022 and is on pace to reach 14.6 million this year.

I would think that in an era of high gas prices, more people would be opting for the free option. But people have their habits, and they have different perceptions and levels of tolerance.

The risk of being injured and having your property damaged in a car crash is significant, as you may have seen on the roads lately. This year 34 people have been killed on Tucson roads, double the number at this time last year. Nobody has been killed on Sun Tran.

That isn鈥檛 to say it couldn鈥檛 happen. When we were riding with Vaughan up North Alvernon Way Tuesday, a young man got onto the bus carrying a knife in a sheath tied around his waist. Popat, my colleague, subtly moved away from him. Others seemed to keep a wary eye on him as he jittered and bounced his knee.

When he got off a mile or so later, I asked Vaughn if he鈥檇 seen the knife. He hadn鈥檛.

The driver told me later that if he notices a weapon on a rider, he monitors them and calls in security if he sees anything bad starting to happen.

Nothing happened in this case. But I can see why that sort of thing would keep some people from riding the bus, free fares or not.