Rethink, Don’t Repeat: Why RTA Next Falls Short
Living Streets Alliance has followed the development of RTA Next closely. Earlier this year, we outlined concerns about the RTA Next draft plan and urged regional leadership to revise it to better reflect community priorities: safety, transit, walkability, climate responsibility, and equitable mobility for all.
The final RTA Next plan has been approved with minor adjustments. Unfortunately, the fundamental problems remain. After extensive analysis and discussion, Living Streets Alliance cannot support the current RTA Next plan because it fails to meet our region’s urgent needs for safety, equity, and sustainability.
Why LSA Says No on RTA Next
It repeats the past and won’t make us safer.
After 20 years of RTA Plan investment, our streets are more dangerous than ever. The RTA Next Plan will shape Tucson’s streets for another 20 years, yet its priorities have reflected engineering, business, and political interests, rather than the livability, public health, equity, and sustainability that Tucsonans have repeatedly called for.
The process lacked transparency and equity.
Accountability and transparency are nonnegotiable. The RTA Next process has repeated patterns of exclusion and inequity, eroding public trust and conflicting with LSA’s Core Values. This is not a community-led plan.
Compounding these issues, the current RTA Board structure itself is inequitable as it does not allow for proportional and equitable representation of the community. Without codified structural changes to ensure genuine accountability, transparency, and community voice, this plan risks locking our region into another generation of inequitable outcomes.
The funding won’t meet our mobility needs.
The Move Tucson plan estimates roughly $13 billion in funding needs over the next 20 years, while PAG’s Regional Mobility and Accessibility Plan identifies about $3 billion for our transit system. In the best-case scenario, the City of Tucson is likely to receive only around $1.3 billion from RTA Next, a fraction of what we need. And as proposed, the RTA Next Plan covers just 24% of these regional transit needs and underinvests in multimodal safety, leaving large gaps in basic infrastructure like sidewalks, protected bike lanes, ADA access, and intersection safety.
It lacks a unified and equitable regional vision.
Regional cooperation is essential, but without shared values or vision, a "regional" plan reinforces local agendas, rather than advancing the region as a whole. In practice, that means Tucsonans tax dollars will fund local projects in other jurisdictions that are in conflict with our values, as reflected in Complete Streets, Move Tucson, and the Climate Action Plan, rather than supporting a cohesive, region-wide transportation vision.
And the inequity is not just philosophical. It is financial. Tucsonans contribute more to the plan than they receive back, while every other jurisdiction stands to gain more than they put in. While this may make sense for some parts of the region, it presents Tucson residents with a legitimate question about why they should subsidize projects that do not align with their own needs, values, or adopted plans, especially when the City could instead raise its own revenue and keep those dollars local, focused entirely on Tucson priorities without competing regional pressures.
The Bottom Line
LSA recognizes the urgent need for sustainable, long-term transportation funding. However, we believe there are alternatives and that we are not obligated to accept a flawed process or an outdated framework.
Our region can—and should—choose a path that prioritizes safety, sustainability, and equity without compromising our core principles for short-term convenience. The RTA did not exist before 2006, and its current structure is only one approach to regional planning, not the blueprint for our future. We should not copy and paste the last 20 years into the next 20.
LSA’s Vision for a Better Path Forward
Saying “no” to RTA Next is not saying “no” to regional cooperation or to transportation funding. It is saying “yes” to a plan that actually meets our needs.
If RTA Next does not pass, our region has real opportunities:
A process that gives the community a real voice and sets shared priorities for a unified regional vision.
Investment priorities that center transit funding (the statute’s only required category) and strengthen safety retrofits, ADA and active transportation facilities, and road maintenance and resurfacing.
Data driven practices to reduce traffic violence, improve air quality, and protect the Sonoran Desert.
Fair regional funding, including contributions from jurisdictions with the ability to raise revenue.
Structural representation reform that ensures proportional voting and real accountability.
We deeply appreciate Mayor Romero’s leadership and her work to bring transparency to the RTA. Her voice has been instrumental. But without changes to the Board’s structure, Tucson’s values and priorities continue to be overshadowed.
Our Commitment
LSA remains committed to collaborating with elected officials, community partners, and the public on constructive, community-driven alternatives. We will continue informing the community, providing analysis, and working with partners to advance a regional transportation vision that is transparent, equitable, safe, and forward-looking.
Together, we can shape a transportation system that meets the needs of all residents, reflects our shared values, and ensures a sustainable, connected, and thriving future for the region.
