Last updated in 1994, the plan recommended increasing the city's fleet of 200 buses to 400 to get more people out of their cars, but no new buses were added. Today the need to reduce car trips is bigger than ever and planners are considering calling for a fleet of 700 buses, Altenstadter said. One plan assumes people won't want to increase funding for transportation. That will leave little room for road and transit improvements, since most of those dollars go to maintain the existing system. Officials must decide how to pay for any adopted plan.
Ideas range from increased fuel taxes to development impact fees.
At University Medical Center, slightly more than half of 2,251 employees use some alternative to driving alone at least once a week. And 625 employees work compressed weeks. Most nurses, for example, work three 12-hour shifts and take four days off. It gives them more time when they're off to spend with their kids and stuff,'' said Bob Black, the center's human resources director. Use of car pools by Pima County commuters dropped from 21 percent in 1980 to 15 percent in 1990, but about 170 local employers are trying to reverse that trend.