TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Kasey Hopper patiently waits for his bus on bus route five Monday through Friday. He’s been doing that for about 12 years and because he’s legally blind, using the bus has been helpful to get to work.
“Specifically for work, with my specific disability, I don’t drive. Uber and ride shares can cost a lot of money, so using Sun Tran is my main source of transportation,” Hopper said.
He teaches at the Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and the Blind and teaches his students how to use the bus. It’s a skill he said is transferable to using the bus in other cities.
“It allows them to get from point A to point B and allows them to have that freedom and independence so they’re not relying on other people. They’re not relying on transportation that can be late,” he said.
Earlier this summer in one draft of their Comprehensive Operational Analysis study, the City of Tucson’s Department of Transportation and Mobility was considering getting rid of bus route five, which extends from Pima Community College’s west campus to Udall Park.
The City said all of their changes to their transportation system are to make sure the system is effective and best serves the public.
The City changed their plan and is now going to keep bus route five. They said the public influenced their new plan to expand the bus route’s hours up to three hours. The City said Route 22, which provides duplicative service on West Speedway, could be discontinued if the plan went through.
“I’m not having to worry about oh my gosh…how am I going to get to and from work now?” Hopper said about the new plan.
Barbara Coon is a bus rider who uses bus route five and attended the City of Tucson’s last public input meeting on Monday. She said the bus allows her to go to various hikes around Tucson.
“People build their lives around the bus schedule…..I see people using them and they need them,” Coon said.
The City said 6 routes could combine or merge and even though some route numbers might go away, most of their area would still have service.
They said their plan is also proposing to add 3 new routes that would merge some existing routes. That includes merging Routes 16 (Oracle) and 18 (S. 6th Ave), extending Route 9 (Grant) to connect to PCC East, and merging routes 11 (Alvernon) and 50 (Ajo Way).
If their plan went through, the City said there could be 26 Sun Tran routes total. There would also be changes to Sun Express and Sun Shuttles.
The City says public input is going to be put into their final report. That report comes out next month and it’s going to be given to the mayor and city council. It will also include additional information like the summary of public involvement, route profiles, service assessment and standards, and other analyses.
The mayor and city council are going to be holding a public hearing on the information. All of the changes could take months or even years if they are adopted.
Riders like Hopper are just glad their route is being given the green light.
“I’m also excited that the City and Sun Tran are listening,” he said.
