The city of Tucson wants to get more people out of their gas-guzzling cars and onto buses.
Luna: “The more you take public transportation, the more you contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which are the reason our cities and planet are heating up.”
Fátima Luna is the Chief Resilience Officer for the City of Tucson.
To encourage people to take the bus, it is currently free, she said. The free rides began during the COVID-19 pandemic and will continue for one year. If funding allows, Tucson officials hope to make the change permanent.
But Luna said affordability is only part of the puzzle.
Luna: “You also need to feel comfortable waiting at the bus stop.”
Summers in Tucson are very hot. But less than half of local bus stops have bus shelters, so waiting can be unpleasant, especially in low-income areas of the city that lack shade trees and green spaces.
So as part of a pilot program, the city will install shade structures and plant trees and other vegetation at a handful of stations.
They will measure how these changes affect temperatures and plan to implement the most effective strategies more broadly.
So it's a holistic approach to making public transport accessible and attractive, so more people choose to take public transport and leave their cars at home.
Report source: Sarah Kennedy/ChavoBart Digital Media
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