Sun Tran has been expanding its service on nights and weekends all over town in the past two years, except in the north and northeast areas of town, where any service would be more service, reader Laurie Soloff said.
Sure, there are three express routes that cross the Rillito River to get to the Foothills and northeast areas, but Soloff said those routes don't very well serve the thousands of people who live on the other side of the river.
Soloff said she has tried to adjust her schedule to meet the express-route schedule, but the service, consisting of a couple of round trips per day, doesn't accommodate very many work and family obligations.
"I have been told that there are plans in 2010 to add two more runs of the (express routes), but that doesn't address needs that have existed for years and are now increasing with greater fuel costs," Soloff wrote in an e-mail.
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She also doesn't buy into the idea that the express routes must attract more riders before they can expand. More people would ride if there were more options, she said.
All of the express routes in the area north of River Road and east of First Avenue are scheduled to get more round trips in 2010, said Michele Joseph, marketing director for Sun Tran.
The Route 8 service on Broadway, which now goes up Wilmot Road to Tanque Verde Road, is scheduled to be extended to the Catalina Highway, Joseph said.
On the west end, Route 10 is scheduled to get more frequent service in five years. All of these additional services are to be funded by the half-cent-per-dollar sales tax we pay here for our 20-year Regional Transportation Authority plan, approved by county voters in 2006.
"It's a question of funding," and the jurisdictions have to pay for their own service if the RTA funding isn't paying for other expansions, Joseph said.
Local governments would go crazy trying to make everyone happy, but a map of Sun Tran routes does show a big, empty space north of the Rillito River and another east of Harrison Road. Sun Tran can't be all things to all people, but no-service spots are even more of a concern if someone needs the Van Tran services. Van Tran, which provides transportation to the disabled, travels only in areas that Sun Tran serves.
Sun Tran should try to keep expanding night and weekend service in the areas it already serves. Those are needed expansions, and they have been welcomed by riders.
But in this time when bus ridership has been expanding all across the country, adding service to an underserved area would lead to more ridership.
At least that's what I think. How about you?
RoadQ
Q: "I was wondering if you know whether there are any plans to put in stripes to divide the double left-turn lanes on both east- and westbound Ina Road going from Ina onto La Cholla Boulevard," Paul Cragle wrote. "I turn down that road just about every day, and it seems many motorists do not seem to know you are not supposed to go from the inside lane to the outside lane when you turn onto La Cholla, and having no dividing lines does not help. I have had to dodge many of them in the middle of my turn onto Ina Road. I would safely call it a hazard there."
A: The county added paint to the roadway before it answered this Road Runner question. "Prior to this request, the intersection had dotted guidelines for the north/south dual left-turn lanes. Upon receiving this request, we evaluated the intersection and installed the guidelines for the east/west double left-turn lanes as well," wrote Priscilla Cornelio, director of the Pima County Department of Transportation.
