TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — With buses and cars whipping past him as he uses his cane to feel his way through the sidewalk, Kasey Hopper made his way over the bus stop on Grande Avenue and Speedway Boulevard.
“The bus allows me to be independent to where I don’t have to rely on family and friends,” Hopper said.
Hopper has been using the Sun Tran buses at least once a day since 2006. He is legally blind and it’s already hard for him to get around.
He said the Tucson heat makes it more difficult, especially when making sure he gets to different locations quickly and safely.
As a teacher, safety is a key lesson he passes on to his students at the Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and Blind when teaching them about how to use the bus.
“We teach them the mobility skills needed to locate the bus stops, to safely board the bus, how to ask for assistance when they get on the bus,” he said.
The City of Tucson’s Department of Transportation and Mobility is analyzing bus routes based on past public input saying people wanted more routes.
They are partnering with the Pima Association of Governments and the Regional Transportation Authority and are using a survey to ask about bus routes.
Their Comprehensive Operational Analysis looks at the transit network as a whole and they reevaluate where they can make it more efficient.
They said people can still give input even though they don’t ride the bus. People can take the survey until September 8 and final recommendations will go to the City council and mayor at the end of the year. They said it could be months or even years until they make changes to bus routes if they agree on it.
They said even though bus routes like the one going to the school could go away, riders would still be able to use another route.
However, they said that bus route could have less busses.
“My travel time is going to increase more an hour and a half, maybe even two hours,” Hopper said.
The City said people can also call their Sun on Demand service and be dropped off in specific areas of Tucson.
Annie Rempe also trains students to use buses and said people who use them can be more susceptible to traffic deaths, especially if they have to transfer buses.
“It does add a lot, a way bigger obstacle because then you’re also having to learn how to cross large streets, which is part of their traveling training, but it adds on a much bigger obstacle,” Rempe said.
Riders like hopper are just hoping the City gives the green light to keep the same bus route.
“And figure out how they’re going to handle the training that’s going to be needed and what buses could come by here,” he said.
