3 min readby Sarah Launius On Tuesday, Bus Riders Union and Tucson’s Rising Tide members spoke before Tucson’s Mayor and Council.  The message was simple: Make Sun Tran Great Again! Increase Ridership Not Fares! Dirk Trachy from Tucson’s Rising Tide shared with Mayor and Council that transit is not only important for people but for our planet. Citing US greenhouse gas emissions from transport at 33% and 34% in Tucson, Dirk informed the council that cities like Munich, Germany have greenhouse gas emissions of 8% largely because of the city’s commitment to viable and affordable mass transit. Dirk urged the Mayor and

2 min readby Brian Flagg Much thanks to Karen Haggar from St. Thomas the Apostle parish. Not only does she give us a donation every month, she passed on to us this tribute to Dan who died on April 30 at the age of 94. It was written by John Nichols in The Nation magazine (May 23, 2016). He talks about how Dan was inspired by Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker and how everything Dan stood for in his life has evolved more or less into the economic justice message of Pope Francis, his fellow jesuit. Dan, and his brother Phil’s

2 min readWednesday June 15 at 5:30 p.m. Armory Park Senior Center (225 S. 5th Avenue) Bring your CREATIVITY to this meeting! The City Manager and City Council are hell-bent on raising bus fares. To balance their budget they are taking money from even the Cops and Fire … so they want sacrifices from Transit too. But raising fares is not the way to do it because studies show that fare increases decrease ridership, meaning less revenue for the transit system. The City Manager has said he needs $1.7 million from Transit. The Bus Rider Union has agreed to almost $2 million

5 min readby Brian Flagg It was extremely profound. A main reason was that I had the privilege of doing this with the Guadalupanas from my parish, Santa Cruz. They are an incredibly spiritual group of women with a deep devotion to the Virgen and they are a lot of fun too! We spent two nights in Guadalajara, a night in Puebla, one in Mexico City, one in Mazatlan, Sinaloa and 3 nights sleeping and riding on the bus. It only cost $550 and so it was accessible to barrio people of modest means. Much thanks to Toni Diaz for inviting me.

5 min readYo bus riders, supporters of bus riders, and any other warm and breathing parties interested in transit justice: What do you think of this as a possible Tucson Bus Rider Union proposal to solve the City’s budget woes in regard to transit? They are taking $11 million from the cops, $4 million from Fire, and want $1.7 million from Transit. The city seems hell-bent on raising fares which is in reality balancing their budget on the backs of bus riders, many of whom live in poverty. But they don’t have to. Check this out! Please reply with your ideas and

2 min readSpecial thanks to Msgr. Tom Cahalane, Dan Linhart from the Teamsters, Fred Yamashita from Pima Area Labor Federation and Dan Beckman from Rising Tide. Also, thanks to Council Members Karin Uhlich and Paul Cunningham for joining us at the party. This was a small victory in the war for transit justice! The result: the City Council did not raise the bus fares! They are gonna take more than $1 million from the transit budget at their August 9 meeting but it gives us time to work with them, especially Councilman Paul Cunningham, to make sure that bus fare increases don’t

3 min readCall the City Council today (especially Uhlich, Romero and Cunningham) and tell them: DO NOT RAISE BUS FARES!!! And Please attend the Bus Rider rally/party on Tuesday, May 17 at 5 pm at City Hall. The birria, rice and beans will be delicious! In addition to bus riders, speakers will be: Msgr Tom Cahalane, Pastor, Our Mother of Sorrows Catholic Church Fred Yamashita, President, Pima Area Labor Federation Dan Linhart, Chief Steward, Teamsters Local 104 So you know, the action around this issue will probably take place at the Mayor and Council Study Session that afternoon at approximately 2:30 when

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4 min readBy Sarah Launius, PhD Candidate at the School of Geography and Development at the UA On May 17 at 5:30pm Tucson’s Mayor and Council will review bus fare increases to get $440,000 additional dollars from the transit budget. It’s not a lot of money for the City of Tucson; heck the Star reported last fall that the City of Tucson gave the Bourn developers a tax incentive valued at $748,000 to finally develop the lot at 20 E Congress Street. That same amount could easily cover the hikes that bus riders are now being dealt. The budget ultimately is a

2 min readMaria Cadaxa, originally from Brazil, is a retired midwife and a Bus Rider Union member since the beginning of the BRU! “So sorry! Couldn’t make last night’s city council meeting. I was simply too tired after a long day. But I did go to the Sun Tran public meeting at the main library, and got some info. Those folks are hopelessly disorganized. Meeting was scheduled for 11am and they didn’t turn up til 10 past, then spent a half hour setting up and put a newbie up front to talk, barely knew the issues and wouldn’t accept questions (didn’t know the