How many Democrats on the Tucson council will vote to burden the poor even more tonight? - Three Sonorans: "Either you charge more or you get more riders. In my opinion, from an environmental perspective, riding the bus should be as free as possible. If Sun Tran had a ride-free month Tucson would see much less traffic on the roads, saving gas, speeding up the commute times, less exhaust, etc. But this will never happen.
However, gas prices will continue to rise. There are many states that are already over the $4 a gallon mark. Tucson will be there soon. Oil production has peaked, and prices will only continue to rise from now on, fluctuating here and there but overall on the rise, but gas is already over $10 a gallon in England.
As summer nears, and gas gets even more expensive, Sun Tran will have more riders. Thus it will be making more money. And it will have more riders the less expensive bus fare is.
The City of Tucson should be promoting public transportation as much as possible, especially if they know anything about peak oil. Increasing bus fares on the poor is the exact opposite of the way they should be headed.
16th Street Shuttle in Denver, CO.
Consider downtown Denver, where all the hotels and convention centers are, with stores, restaurants, bars, bookstores, everything. Public transportation is FREE!
And the bus you ride is environmentally friendly.
Those dozens of people on each bus could be dozens of cars burning gas, but instead it’s just one vehicle and everyone is happy.
The city is providing the infrastructure for business to bloom. Even hotels a mile away from where a conference is are just a free short ride away.
This is so different from Tucson’s downtown."
