Mayor Romero: Funding Tucson's transportation future

Tucsonans have spoken and your mayor and Council have heard you loud and clear.

Tucson is preparing for our future in a rapidly changing world. We are committed to building a Tucson that is prosperous and livable. Last year, thousands of Tucsonans helped create Move Tucson, our citywide mobility plan. They voiced their support for increasing transportation choices, reducing mobility barriers, improving safety, fixing our roads and centering equity and climate resilience.

We know what our community’s transportation needs are. We need to fix our roads and our infrastructure. We need safe passage for pedestrians and bicyclists. We need shaded sidewalks and bus shelters. We need cross-town mobility.

This is what’s on my mind as my colleagues on the Council and I consider how to fund our transportation future. Our city manager presented a plan identifying potential sources to fund this future including accessing historic federal infrastructure monies made available by the bipartisan infrastructure act.

We have two important choices in front of us: whether or not to participate in RTA Next and what type of sales tax initiative to put in front of voters as Proposition 101 expires.

I must be clear about the two issues that must be resolved for Tucson to participate in RTA Next: the delivery and funding of current Regional Transportation Authority projects and fair representation on governing bodies and committees that make important decisions.

To fulfill current RTA projects, we need a blueprint to solve current funding gaps to avoid placing an unfair burden on Tucson taxpayers. The RTA identified a gap of $78 million to $121 million.

Our second issue concerns fair representation. Tucson residents represent 52% of Pima County’s total population, according to U.S. Census data. About 56% of the region’s workers are employed in Tucson and nearly 70% of Pima County’s retail sales are in Tucson. Our city is the economic hub of our region where nearly every resident of Pima County — regardless of where they live — drive on city streets. Yet, despite our share of population and economic footprint, Tucson only has 1 of 9 votes, or 11% of the total, on the RTA and Pima Association of Governments (PAG) governing boards.

While neighboring jurisdictions face many of the same issues, Tucson has fundamentally different transportation needs due to our size, the age of our infrastructure and our demographics.

Tucson has the greatest population density, with 2,300 residents per square mile compared with fewer than 300 residents per square mile in the Town of Marana. 81% of the region’s public transit commuters live in Tucson. This underscores the complexity inherent in our capital improvement projects.

When it comes to our transportation needs, Tucsonans prefer we invest in improving roads and neighborhood streets, improving safety for all users and investing in transit and climate resiliency before expansion and widenings.

Finally, Tucson is more demographically and socioeconomically diverse than our suburban counterparts. We are home to 60% of the region’s residents under the age of 35, 60% of the region’s communities of color, and 73% of the region’s military families.

As University of Arizona urban planning professor Arlie Adkins explained to the RTA Board, voting structures with one vote per jurisdiction can disenfranchise urban residents and people of color. If we follow the RTA’s current trajectory, greater weight will continue to be given to the needs of suburban communities.

Supervisor Rex Scott and I provided a proposal for adjusted voting structures to allow for more proportional representation based on population. Compromise is a two-way street that requires all parties to cooperate.

The city of Tucson is working ardently to find a solution to this impasse. Mayor and Council are asking for the bare minimum: adequate representation and financial accountability. I remain hopeful we can find a resolution to move forward with a regional transportation plan that is fair and addresses the diverse needs of our region.