Decades later, UTA built a light rail system that gained ridership beyond expectations and elevated the agency to a catalyst and shaper of development, as evidenced by the apartment boom along the university rail route.
But for all of its successes, UTA ultimately was vanquished by its excesses, including mind-boggling executive salaries and bonuses, development scandals and questionable property deals, and a massive $2 billion debt that costs UTA 30 cents of every dollar it gets.
Now the Legislature is poised to dismantle its oversight structure and rename it “Transit District Utah.