RTA Next

We envision streets as living public spaces that connect people to places and to each other; a Tucson where people move through the city with dignity and ease, no matter who they are or how they get around.

Our vision statement above has been shaped by over a decade of on-the-ground work in and with the Tucson community, exploring people’s transportation needs and priorities. Living Streets Alliance advocates for this future by making sure that it is reflected and supported by transportation funding that is available to our city. If RTA Next gets approved by voters in November 2025, it will lock the region into delivering on whatever is outlined within it; it will dictate what gets built (and therefore what likely won’t have the funding to get built) for the next twenty years! We want to make sure that what people need and want—things like sidewalks, safe crossings, connected and protected bikeways, and reliable transit—are what gets prioritized and built.

What’s going on and why does it matter?

A major part of our work as an advocacy organization is tracking funding opportunities and making sure community voices are heard and incorporated into them. If you live in the greater Tucson area, you should be aware of one of the biggest potential funding initiatives being considered right now, RTA Next. Depending on what is included in the RTA Next plan, that could either be good and solidify the vision of a vibrant, multi-modal future we share with so many Tucsonans, or bad by committing the region to building infrastructure that leads to sprawl, over-reliance on one mode of transportation, poor air quality, and streets that are even more deadly.

(Note: Because it’s such a huge and complex matter, we’ve tried to break it down so it’s easier to understand what’s on the table. Click on the drop-downs below for more information on RTA and RTA Next.)

Food for thought

We could go on and on about the current RTA and our concerns over RTA Next, as it stands. Check out our blog post outlining our initial responses to the draft RTA Next plan as well as our recommendations on how to fill out the online survey. You can also read our blog posts from the past that shine a light on concerns over the years (it’s not just the draft plan; it also has to do with a lack of equitable representation and a nontransparent process):

But don’t just take it from us. Here are some additional perspectives to take into account:

  • RTA stands for Regional Transportation Authority. It is an independent taxing district within Pima County that is responsible for delivering  a 20-year plan that was approved by voters in 2006,  funded through  a ½ cent sales tax. The RTA Plan includes everything from interstate interchanges to wildlife crossings to bus pullouts and more. Learn more about it here.

  • RTA is overseen and governed by the RTA Board, a nine-member group of representatives from eight jurisdictions (Pima County, South Tucson, Tucson, Marana, Oro Valley, Sahuarita, the Pascua Yaqui Tribe and Tohono O’odham Nation) and the Arizona State Transportation Board. Important to note is that each of these members has the same amount of voting representation on the board, regardless of how much of the population they represent. (So, in other words, the Mayor of South Tucson has one vote and the Mayor of Tucson has one vote, despite the fact that the former has a population of around 4,500 while the latter has a population of over 547,000.) Here’s what the Board currently looks like:

    • Regina Romero, Mayor of the City of Tucson

    • Adelita Grijalva, Vice Chair of the Pima County Board of Supervisors

    • Roxanna Valenzuela, Mayor of the City of South Tucson

    • Peter Yucipicio, Pascua Yaqui Tribe Chairman

    • Verlon Jose, Tohono O’odham Nation Chairman

    • Jon Post, Mayor of the Town of Marana

    • Joe Winfield, Mayor of the Town of Oro Valley

    • Tom Murphy, Mayor of the Town of Sahuarita

    • Ted Maxwell, Vice Chair of the Arizona State Transportation Board

  • Here are a handful of articles that shed light on some of the outcomes of the first RTA:

  • The original RTA ½ cent sales tax is due to expire in 2026. Accordingly, the RTA Board has been working to put together a package to bring before voters. If approved by voters, the ballot measure—RTA Next—would extend the sales tax and continue funding regional transportation projects for another twenty years.

  • The current RTA tax will sunset on June 30, 2026. For nearly five years the RTA Board has been going back and forth trying to arrive at a reauthorization proposal to put before voters and to decide when to put it on the ballot. Last Fall (2024) they finally decided to move forward with putting an initiative on the ballot in November 2025. They also agreed upon a package of projects to circulate for community input before it becomes the final package included in the ballot language. A public survey has been live since November 2024 and will close at the end of January, 2025. In theory, at that point, the RTA Board will have the option to refine the proposal based on feedback in order to make the final package (that goes on the ballot) as attractive to voters as possible.

  • The current plan that’s open for public comment reflects a combined total of $2,466,586,000 (yes, that’s $2.46 BILLION dollars!) including 47 projects. See the document below for the list of projects proposed. Here’s the general breakdown of project types and how much of the total funding they represent:

    • Roadway Corridors $1,439,820,000 (58%)

    • Safety, ADA, & Active Transportation $206,800,000 (8%)

    • Arterial Road Reconstruction $20,000,000 (>1%)

    • Environmental (Wildlife Linkages) $25,000,000 (1%)

    • Transit $610,000,000 (25%)

    • Admin, Debt, & Contingency $146,966,000 (7%)

Draft RTA Next Plan: