UTA usually prevents more pollution than it creates — but not always

(Trent Nelson | Tribune file photo) One of UTA's Utah Valley Express (UVX) buses makes a stop in Orem, Tuesday Sept. 25, 2018. Utah Transit Authority buses and trains usually prevent more pollution than they create by reducing single-rider car trips — but a new study says that is not always the case. Utah Transit Authority buses and trains usually prevent more pollution than they create by reducing single-rider car trips. But a new study says that is not always the case.

At times and places with low ridership — such as weekends, evenings and outside the crowded urban core — the emission-cutting benefits of UTA dwindle and even disappear, according to the study by University of Utah…