Tucson Sun Link Streetcar

The Sun Link Streetcar system opened in July 25th 2014. It has 23 Stations (17 per direction) with daily ridership around 4,000 (Arizona Daily Star). The length of the line is 3.9 miles, servicing the University of Arizona, Downtown and Mercado.  The estimate from the city was 3,600 weekday riders, it exceeded expectations.

One-way full fare is $1.50, a day pass is $4. There is a SunGO card that works for the bus and streetcar and allows a transfer between the two vehicles.

In order to build the Sun Link System, Tucson secured a $63 million federal grant for its modern streetcar. This included the price of tearing up the existing roadway and the laying down of tracks for the streetcar. Currently, fare boxes are on course to bring in $1.2 million per year. With annual operations costs at about $4.2 million, that’s in line with cost recovery ratios for most transit systems.

Much of the initial ridership was due to novelty of a tram/streetcar in the downtown area. (Patrick McNamara) According to the Monthly Operations Report, in January 2017 average weekday ridership was at 2,857, which was is an increase from the January 2106 average of 2,757. Both of which are below the projections,  however in September and March ridership was at am average of 3,800 on the weekdays. This could be partially due to the large amount of University Students who utilize the streetcar. The ridership for the summer months of 2016 was also comparatively low. 

The proposed route of the extended Kansas City Streetcar, terminates at the UMKC Campus. Similarly to Tucson, the KC Streetcar could see an increase of riders during the school semester. However it is important to note that the University of Missouri – Kansas City has a total enrollment of 16,000 and the University of Arizona has a total enrollment of 43,000.

Route Maps:

 

Sources:
McNamara, Patrick”Tucson’s Streetcar Exceeds Ridership Expectations.” Tucson’s Streetcar Exceeds Ridership Expectations. Arizona Daily Star, 29 Sept. 2015. Web. 13 Mar. 2017.

O’Dell, Rob”US Grants Tucson $63M for Streetcar.” US Grants Tucson $63M for Streetcar. Arizona Daily Star, 02 July 2014. Web. 13 Mar. 2017.

“Route Map.” Sun Link – The Tucson Streetcar. Web. tucsonaz.gov