Utah Transit Authority

Utah Transit Authority

Route 37 bus at a UTA TRAX station. This is before the bus route redesign of August 26, 2007
Founded	1970
Headquarters	South Salt Lake, Utah
Locale	Wasatch Front
Service area	Box Elder, Davis, Salt Lake, Tooele, Utah, and Weber Counties
Service type	Intra- and inter-urban bus service; intra-urban light rail; inter-city commuter rail
Routes	120 (including Bus, TRAX and FrontRunner)
Stops	≈50,000
Fleet	972
Operator	Utah Transit Authority
Web site	Ride UTA

The Utah Transit Authority (UTA) operates a public transportation system throughout the Wasatch Front of Utah, United States. It operates fixed route buses, express buses, ski buses, three light rail lines (TRAX), and a commuter rail line (FrontRunner) from Salt Lake City to Pleasant View, north of Ogden. UTA is based in South Salt Lake, where it also maintains a bus garage. Light rail vehicles are stored and maintained at yards at another location in South Salt Lake and in Midvale. The Authority’s commuter rail equipment is stored and serviced at a facility in Salt Lake City.

History

Bus service

Map of TRAX and FrontRunner lines circa 2013. This map includes the FrontRunner extension to Provo, the Blue Line extension to Draper, and the Green Line extension to the airport

See also: List of Utah Transit Authority bus routes

The Utah Transit Authority traces its roots to 1953 when several bus companies united to form the organization. Ironically, among the constitutive companies of UTA was National City Lines, which bought out and decommissioned the trolleys from the Utah Light and Traction Company in the 1940s. The Traction company operated electric trolleys in Salt Lake City neighborhoods like the Avenues.

Bus service in the 1950s became unpopular with low gas prices and subsidized construction of highways like Interstate 15. By 1960 bus ridership was only about one third the level of war-time Salt Lake, and the average age of riders was 14.

In 1969, the Utah State Legislature passed the Utah Public Transit District Act, which allows individual communities to address transportation needs by forming local transit districts.

UTA was founded in March 1970 when the cities of Sandy, Salt Lake and Murray voted to form a transit district. Today, UTA’s service area is over 1,400 square miles (3,600 km²) and covers six counties: Box Elder, Davis, Salt Lake, Tooele, Utah and Weber.

UTA strove to streamline the bus system and only in the 1970s connected the east and west sides of the Salt Lake Valley. In 1976 UTA began offering ski service to Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons. Today, UTA offers "ski service" buses to the Alta, Snowbird, Brighton, and Solitude ski resorts.

In March 2007, UTA began holding open houses to receive community input on a plan to completely overhaul the bus system in Salt Lake County. The final redesign plan was approved on May 23, 2007, and was implemented on August 26. The plan has received widespread praise, as well as widespread criticism.[1]

Bus Rapid Transit (MAX)

Main article: MAX

UTA's first Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line (called MAX) runs along 3500 South in Salt Lake County, starting in Magna, goes through West Valley City and ends at the Millcreek TRAX station. Construction on a MAX line in Utah County is currently in the planning phase.

Light Rail (TRAX)

Main article: UTA Trax

Population growth and accompanying congestion led to the study of the feasibility of light rail in the Salt Lake Valley in the early 1990s. A 1993 initiative to use tax revenues to purchase an underutilized rail corridor for potential light rail use was rejected by Salt Lake County voters. The County Commission opposed increasing taxes for light rail and even hired a lobbyist to this end. Nonetheless, the Utah Transit Authority moved forward and was able to make the purchase using other available funds.

UTA also lobbied for funding and in August 1995 won $240 million from the federal government as part of the budget for I-15 reconstruction. This federal grant amounted to over two-thirds the cost of the Blue Line to Sandy, and further bills would fund a second line to the University of Utah. Salt Lake City's successful bid to host the 2002 Winter Olympics gave the light rail project some priority over transit projects in other cities competing for federal funds; Secretary of Transportation Federico Peña explained, "The Winter Olympics in Salt Lake are not just Salt Lake's Olympics. They are the nation's Olympics." Nonetheless, UTA's cost-effective light rail project merited the support of the Federal Transit Administration and would have been funded and constructed regardless of the Olympics.

TRAX became operational on December 4, 1999 with a 17.3-mile route—the Blue Line—from Sandy to Downtown Salt Lake City. In celebration, UTA offered free rides on the new line all day, and local residents stood in long lines to be packed into the new light rail cars. The Blue Line was expanded in April 2008 to the Salt Lake City Intermodal Hub, and as part of UTA's FrontLines 2015 project, an expansion of the line south to Draper is under construction.

Two TRAX trains along the Red Line

Thanks to federal support, the initial 2.3-mile Red Line, from downtown Salt Lake to the University of Utah, was operational by December 15, 2001—after 16 months of construction and well ahead of the original schedule. Construction was expedited to be completed before the 2002 Winter Olympics, to enable spectators to take TRAX to the opening ceremonies at Rice–Eccles Stadium. In light of heightened security in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, however, light rail service was suspended during the opening and closing ceremonies. Buses were used instead, and though also vulnerable, transported attendees without incident. A 1.5-mile extension to the University of Utah Medical Center was completed September 29, 2003, and an expansion west to the Daybreak Community in South Jordan opened August 7, 2011.

The success of TRAX led to the creation of a third line—the Green Line—which runs from downtown Salt Lake to the West Valley Intermodal Hub in West Valley City. This line opened August 7, 2011, and services 15 stations. An expansion of the line, from downtown Salt Lake to the Salt Lake International Airport, is currently under construction, with a planned completion in 2013.

Commuter Rail (FrontRunner)

A FrontRunner Train

Main article: FrontRunner

In 2002, UTA announced a deal with Union Pacific to purchase a segment of track and right-of-way for a commuter rail line from Salt Lake City to Pleasant View, just northwest of Ogden. Construction on FrontRunner began on August 10, 2005, and has opened eight stations running from Pleasant View to Salt Lake City. As part of UTA's FrontLines 2015 project, the commuter rail system is being expanded south 44 miles (71 km) to Provo, in Utah County. Future expansion is planned to extend the line north to Brigham City in Box Elder County, and possibly as far south as Nephi in Juab County.

Routes

UTA operates in Salt Lake, Davis, Weber, Utah, Tooele and Box Elder counties. Access extends from Brigham City in the north to Payson in the south. Service consists of all cities in between, heading as far west as Grantsville in Tooele County.

Fares & Fare Collection

UTA's bus fares are fixed price, based on the service type. Paper transfers are issued and valid for use on other buses and TRAX. TRAX fares are similarly fixed price, with the option to buy a 2-ride ticket. FrontRunner fares are distance-based.

Numerous fare products are available, including monthly passes purchased at local stores, passes for university students and employer-sponsored passes. A variety of discounts and discount passes are available for eligible riders.

On January 1, 2009, UTA launched an Automated Fare Collection System to collect fares with contactless smart cards. As the first full AFC System in the USA to accept contactless bank cards (ExpressPay, Zip from Discover, PayPass and PayWave), the UTA system, implemented in conjunction with Vix Technology, received the 2009 Innovation Award from the American Public Transportation Association and the 2009 Sesames Transportation Award.

Leadership and operation

UTA is governed by a 19-member Board of Trustees that continually directs agency staff to improve public transit along the Wasatch Front. Trustees are appointed by the city and county governments that fund UTA with a local option sales taxes. Board members work with their appointing local representatives to direct UTA so the agency can best meet the needs of individual communities.

Local-elected officials may also serve on the UTA Board, and one seat is reserved for a member of the State Transportation Commission, which is part of the Utah Department of Transportation. The President of the Senate, Speaker of the House and Governor of the State of Utah each appoint one seat as well.

UTA Public Safety

Main article: Utah Transit Authority Police Department

The Utah Transit Authority Public Safety Department is the law enforcement arm of UTA. The Department conducts law enforcement services, criminal investigations and public safety throughout the light rail, commuter rail and bus transit systems. The UTA Police headquarters is located at the Central Pointe TRAX Station at 221 West 2100 South in South Salt Lake. The UTA Police Dispatch Center can be reached at (801)287-EYES(3937) or 911.

See also

• Transportation in Salt Lake City
• Sugar House Streetcar

References

• Sillitoe, Linda (1996). A History of Salt Lake County. Salt Lake City: Utah Historical Society. ISBN 0-913738-04-2

External links

• UTA homepage
• UTA at UtahRails.net — An index page for UTA's TRAX light rail, Frontrunner commuter rail, and UTA's buses, with extensive chronology histories.