Mass Transit
The Utah Transit Authority (UTA) provides convenient transportation through commuter rail, light rail and buses along the Wasatch Front with an average daily boarding of 58,000 riders. The UTA provides public transportation services in six counties, which include Salt Lake, Ogden, Provo and Orem. Up to 164 different routes are available throughout a 1,400 square-mile area and 75 percent of the people who live within UTA's public transit district have bus service within two blocks of their homes. The UTA provides service to the local ski areas during the winter and also features FlexTrans, a curb-to-curb transportation system for disabled passengers.
The UTA TRAX light-rail system has consistently exceeded rider projections. When the light-rail system began operating in December 1999, it was projected to carry 14,000 passengers per day.
TRAX currently has three lines in service: Sandy-Downtown; Downtown-University of Utah and West Valley City to Downtown. The Utah Transit Authority has purchased over 175 miles of railroad corridor along the Wasatch Front for future expansion of the TRAX system.
Construction has begun for the Mid-Jordan line of Trax. This line will serve Murray, Midvale, West Jordan and South Jordan and is expected to be complete by 2012. Construction is also underway for a TRAX line from Salt Lake City to the airport. This line is should be complete by early 2013.
The Sugar House Streetcar is a new project that will connect TRAX at Central Point with neighborhoods in South Salt Lake and Salt Lake City. Construction began in April 2012 and will be completed in 2013.
The newly constructed intermodal hub brings together TRAX, FrontRunner, UTA's bus service, Greyhound and Amtrak all in the same location. Located just west of downtown Salt Lake, the hub is the city's key transportation link.
Utah's first high-speed commuter rail, FrontRunner, began operation on the first leg of route from Salt Lake to Ogden. The first train transported passengers into Salt Lake on April 26, 2008. The line currently runs from Salt Lake City north to Pleasant View.
The next step for FrontRunner will be to expand the line south into Utah County. Construction is currently underway to upgrade tracks and building stations in southern Salt Lake County. The entire FrontRunner line is expected to be in operation in 2015.
