Sun Tran Facts

Sun Tran was established in 1975. A contest was held and the winning name was selected from entries submitted by members of the community.
Currently Sun Tran has 199 buses in its fleet.
Each bus is 40 feet long, 10 feet high and just under 9 feet wide.
A bus weighs 35,000 pounds and seats up to 43 passengers.
Sun Tran was named America's Best Transit System for 2005 and 1988, as well as Arizona's Best Transit System for 2004.
Sun Tran buses travel 27,000 miles each day.
Sun Tran has more than 2,200 bus stops.
Sun Tran has more than 500 employees.
Every bus is equipped with a bike rack that can carry up to two bicycles.

Decreasing Traffic Congestion & Air Pollution

If all Americans who currently ride the bus decided to drive, their cars would circle the globe with a line of traffic 23,000 miles long.
Each Tucsonan traveling during peak hours wastes, on average, 42 hours a year - more than five full working days - in congestion.
One Sun Tran bus takes as many as 60 vehicles off our streets.
100 percent of Sun Tran's fleet utilizes cleaner-burning fuels such as bio-diesel and compressed natural gas.
Each year, public transportation use saves more than 1.4 billion gallons of gasoline. This represents nearly 4 million gallons of gasoline per day.

It costs $5,677 to operate and maintain a small car driving 10,000 miles annually vs. $275 for an annual Sun Tran pass.
The average household spends 18 cents of every dollar on transportation, 94 percent of which is for buying, maintaining and operating cars.
Traffic congestion costs Americans $63.1 billion a year.
The Federal Transit Administration reports that the 80 million Americans who live in transit-intensive metropolitan areas save an estimated $20 billion in auto expenses each year.

32 million seniors increasingly rely on public transportation nationwide as their ability to drive decreases with age.
24 million members of the disabled community across the nation need public transportation to maintain their independence.
37 million individuals living at or below the poverty line often rely on public transportation because they are unable to afford their own vehicle.
10 million Americans use public transportation to get to work every day, with even more using transit on a less frequent basis.
100 percent of Sun Tran's buses are equipped with ramps or lifts.
Riding the bus is 170 times safer than traveling by car.

Source: Transit Fact Book, American Public Transit Association.