On Monday, Oct. 22, the Bus Riders Union will meet at 4 p.m. at the Ronstadt Transit Center (at Sixth Avenue and Congress Street) to discuss “the possible destruction or downsizing of the Ronstadt Center due to downtown developers’ desire to squeeze profits out of this prized downtown piece of land.”

From the press release:

The Bus Riders Union feels that poor people, in this case bus riders, should not be forced out of downtown. Like City Council Member Regina Romero said in her first campaign: “It should be a downtown for everyone.”

A PLAN TO BEGIN TO FIGHT THIS CLEANSING OF THE DOWNTOWN BY MONEYED INTERESTS WILL BE UNVEILED.
JOIN US !

City Council Member Karin Uhlich will join the Bus Riders Union for this event.

Coffee, Cookies, and DONUTS will be SERVED!

For more info: Brian Flagg at (520) 624-0312

This article appears in Oct 18-24, 2012.

10 replies on “Bus Riders Union: ‘Save the Ronstadt Center’”

  1. They appear to have their caps lock key set to “random.” I can see the second paragraph emphasis, but DONUTS is a little strange, and SERVED (with its own exclamation point) is just wacky, unless there’s a hidden agenda I don’t get.

  3. Considering the shortage of parking, and the expense of the parking that does exist, bus service is a vital artery to get downtown. Without Ronstadt Center, using mass transit will be even more difficult than it already is. Fewer people will come downtown, and less money will be spent there. If the point of development is to make money and raise tax revenues by increasing economic activity, it seems the developers are defeating their own purpose, and downtown will suffocate itself under its own mass. The system needs to be expanded and made more convenient, not further restricted. Perhaps Ronstadt Center could be enlarged with an over-structure to include a transit information kiosk, and inexpensive coffee and snack shops for riders to grab a bite and spend a few dollars in between those 40 minute layovers.

  4. These developers need to concern themselves with filling in all the empty gaps that the construction is leaving behind before trying to destroy new spaces.

  5. This is all about Brian’s ego. The City is in the middle of a major upgrade to Ronstadt, so the idea that it is going to be closed makes no sense.

  6. We need more public transportation to the downtown area, not less. Is getting rid of the Ronstadt Center really in the works? Did the Tucson Weekly run an in-depth story on this issue that I missed?

  7. We need to vote out the inept and corrupt city council. It seems that they are more interested in giving all public property they can to developers with little in the way of real market compensation. One dollar a year leases to their cronies, yet when an average citizen wants to lease a downtown building for a business, the city throws up so many roadblocks that they simply cannot compete and get a building without major and expensive upgrades just to be denied a “Certificate of occupancy”. Enough of this and get rid the council that seems to do nothing but obstruct local small business.

  8. For most riders who use the bus service at the Ronstadt Center, downtown is not their destination but rather a layover stop. It makes no sense to keep a bus-station that big in such a small downtown area. Just removing the amount of buses that flow through those small streets would ease so much traffic. It’s important to note 2 things… One, downsizing the Ronstadt Center would not stop downtown access. And two, the Modern Streetcar will be running through Congress Street! Downtown does not and will not need the bus traffic! Utilizing that area for local business is the most sensible thing the city can do.

  9. Wouldn’t one think to ask the mayor about this “possibility?” City Manager?

    Or the story, if there really is one, is incubating, simmering for Thursday paper print?

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