Tucson’s downtown gets parking, shuttles and safety upgrades

“See You Downtown” is the name of the semi-tourism, semi-safety investments coming from about $1 million in excess funds Pima County approved at Tuesday’s meeting.

“We want people to come downtown, support a local business, enjoy our public spaces, see a show, grab dinner, and stay a while,” Supervisor Andrés Cano, who represents the downtown area, said at a Thursday press conference.

Downtown Transportation 

Three garages, previously only open to county employees, will start night and weekend hours with a $5 flat parking fee starting before Dec. 1, county officials said. They are:

— Public Works Garage: 50 W Alameda St.

— Scott Avenue Garage: 50 N Scott Ave.

— Public Service Garage: 38 E Alameda St.

The Downtown Tucson Partnership will also launch two transportation services between parking facilities and downtown activities, including a free weekend shuttle and smaller six- and four-passenger golf carts.

The nonprofit also plans to re-launch its Safe Ride Home program, which gives businesses up to $40 toward an Uber ride home from downtown during late-night hours to transport patrons who can’t drive.

Parking and navigation are crucial to retaining customers, said Nick Wayne, owner of the Highwire cocktail bar and Gibson’s Food Hall and Market.

“Can they find affordable parking? Can they get from the garage to dinner, a show, an event? Those details matter because they affect whether somebody comes downtown once or comes back again and again,” Wayne said.

Pima County’s collaboration with Downtown Tucson Partnership is intentionally coinciding with the city’s tourism-heavy winter and spring months, county officials said. The nonprofit’s purple shirt ambassadors, the 24/7 street-care team, will be receiving mobile cleaning carts to make cleaning efforts more visible.

Another $75,000 is earmarked for lighting improvements and expanded purple-shirt ambassador coverage in areas that “directly affect the downtown experience and public perception,” county documents say. 

Why does the county have extra money?

The excess funds come as Pima County is asking voters to approve Proposition 425, which would adjust the formula county officials use to calculate the expenditure limit, or how much they can spend in a fiscal year. The ballot measure would increase the expenditure limit, originally set in 1980, by 75% if approved by voters.

Expenditure limits and excess funds are separate but related, County Administrator Jan Lesher said. This year’s extra money came from department-level budgeting, she said.

“When people tighten their belts, we end up with more surplus than we had anticipated,” she said.

In the next few years, it’s likely the county could bring in more tax revenue than it is allowed to spend under state law, Lesher said, unless Prop 425 is approved.

“It's not a blank check. It’s not just ‘go tax more,’ it's letting us spend the money we have,” Lesher said.

The cost of operating more parking garages is expected to be made up by charging parking fees, according to county documents, but Downtown Tucson Partnership’s portion will be treated as a pilot over the next two years. Then, county staff will evaluate how many people are using services when considering renewing their funding in future budget cycles, Lesher said.