Salt Lake Tribune · Jul 25, 2019
UTA’s big choice: increase bus frequency or cover more areas
(Leah Hogsten | Tribune file photo) Utah Transit Authority bus riders wait out the rain in shelters along 200 North in Farmington in 2019.The Utah Transit Authority Board faces a big question that could refocus its bus service for years, and create a new set of winners and losers among taxpayers.
Should it increase bus frequency in busy, densely populated areas to increase ridership, or should it spend its money instead to cover more geographic areas — including in sparsely populated neighborhoods?
The board has a self-imposed deadline to decide by the end of the month how to balance those competing interests. No matter what, that seems bound to upset some and please others.