On March 10, 2026, Pima County voters approved a new 20-year transportation plan worth $2.67 billion, funded by sales tax collected throughout Pima County.
The plan and tax went into effect April 1, 2026 and are effective through March 31, 2046.
Everyone who shops in Pima County (residents, visitors, and businesses) is helping to pay for the roads and transportation infrastructure. Sales tax is collected in five areas:
- Retail Sales*
- Contracting
- Utilities
- Restaurant & Bar
- Rental of Personal Property
*Grocery and pharmaceutical items are tax-exempt.
By law, the RTA must spend the money as voters approved.
Funding by RTA plan element:
- Roadway (Multimodal) Corridor – $1.42 billion
- Safety, ADA and Active Transportation – $254.6 million
- Arterial and Collector Roads, Pavement Rehabilitation – $177.6 million
- Environmental – $50 million
- Transit – $726 million
TOTAL RTA BUDGET – $2.67 billion
TOTAL COMMITTED NON-RTA DOLLARS – $1.21 billion
TOTAL RTA and NON-RTA COMMITMENTS – $3.88 billion
2006 RTA Plan and Funding History
The first RTA plan was approved by Pima County voters in 2006. It was a $2.1 billion, 20-year plan that ended March 31, 2026, after voters approved the new plan.
About $400 million from the original plan is being used to finish 2006 plan projects that are still being built or are about to start.
An independent review of the 2006 RTA plan was finished in early 2017 and it found that money was spent exactly as voters approved.
A five-year review will start in summer 2026 to wrap up the 2006 plan. Reviews will continue every five years.
A citizen oversight group — the Citizens Accountability for Regional Transportation (CART) Committee — has watched over RTA spending since 2006. A new CART Committee will begin on July 1, 2026.
RTA Funding Impact
Every year, the RTA is the largest funder of transportation projects in the region. State and federal gas taxes have not increased since the early 1990s. This makes the RTA very important for keeping roads and transit in good shape and supporting economic growth across Pima County.
The following chart shows the funding impact of the 2006 RTA plan to the region:
