Draper TRAX line essentially finished, reports Tribune

Tribune photo

Here's an interesting story about what it takes to get a TRAX line up and running after construction. Read the story at The Salt Lake Tribune.

The streak continues

First train to Clearfield is due at 5:31. Actual arrival time: 5:37.

Thanks, UTA.

UPDATE: Got off the FR at North Temple and a 516 bus was still waiting. As I was walking up to board, the driver closed the door and began pulling away. A UTA employee basically threw herself in front of the bus to get the driver to stop so I could board, and had to tell him to wait until passengers had cleared the "ramp."

The D-News reports on UTA lobbying

According to the Deseret News, UTA spent a bundle on lobbying the past four years:

SALT LAKE CITY — When the Utah Legislature convenes next month, one publicly funded agency will have as many as eight lobbyists bending lawmakers' ears on Capitol Hill.

The Utah Transit Authority spends more on in-state lobbying than any local government entity. From 2008 through September 2012, UTA contracts with state lobbyists totaled nearly $1.3 million, according to figures provided by the agency. On average, it pays out about $260,000 a year.

Another delay day

First train of the morning at Clearfield FrontRunner station heading south? Seven minutes late. But, I'm sitting comfortably in a Comet car.

We'll probably miss connections at North Temple. I'll update later.

UPDATE:
FR rolled into the North Temple station at 7:09 a.m., so the 516 bus had already rolled (empty, I assume) and the 500 left as the train was pulling into the station -- that had a number of fellow passengers hopping mad.

I grabbed a 209 to City Creek, then waited for a 500 to my stop at 300 South State.

Again, I emphasize: People were angry at the North Temple FR station bus stop.

FrontRunner South's opening day headaches

I was willing to forgive when it came to mix-ups and a littlechaos on the day Utah Transit Authority began FrontRunner service south toProvo. The opening of the new North Temple station and others south of SaltLake Central necessitated all manner of bus-route and even TRAX-train reroutingand schedule changes. I get that.

Still, I’ve been riding FrontRunner to downtown Salt LakeCity for more than four years, and despite questions and complaints fromsqueaky wheels like me, there are some things the UTA simply refuses to getright.

From what I read in the paper, the people who manage UTA arehighly paid for their expertise. Indeed, their competence is offered as thechief defense of what some observers view as outsized pay and benefits andretirement packages. Good for them; I wouldn’t turn down a raise, either.

Given all that superiority in the transit-agency-managing profession:

• Why is there no mid-platform crosswalk at Salt Lake Central Station? It would allow customers departing incoming buses to cross the east set of FrontRunner tracks to board a train awaiting them on the west FrontRunner tracks. There’s a crosswalk at the Farmington station. At Salt Lake Central, those trying to connect between buses and FrontRunner at or near departure times must sprint half the length of the platform, or wait 15, 30 or 60 minutes for the next connection, depending on the desired bus or train route. I’ve asked UTA’s “station hosts” at Salt Lake Central about the lack of a crosswalk. They’ve all said it was supposed to be done long ago. With all due respect to UTAmanagement, why has the agency been able to construct hundreds of millions ofdollars’ worth of rail lines to Utah County but neglected to install a simplecrosswalk?
• And why do buses – empty ones, at that -- at various FrontRunner stations pull away just as the commuter train is pulling into the station, forcing passengers to miss connections and wait? Instead, the buses should be queued up in a line waiting for FrontRunner passengers to disembark.
• I have more complaints, but I’ll conclude with this one, which is specific to my weekday experience on FrontRunner between the Clearfield and Salt Lake Central stations: Why do full southbound trains sometimes have to pull over on a Centerville siding and stop to wait for nearly empty northbound trains in the morning? It creates a five-minute delay that causes us to miss bus and TRAX connections at the North Temple and Salt Lake Central stations, further lengthening our commute. Just as puzzling and frustrating is the habit of northbound afternoon-drive-time trains, full of passengers, parking at the same Centerville siding while nearly empty southbound trains fly by.

If UTA’s goal is to move as many people as quickly andefficiently as possible, that goal is too frequently not being achieved. On“change day,” Dec. 10, I asked a good-humored UTA employee assigned to work theNorth Temple station’s bus stop why my 516 bus pulled away before FrontRunnerarrived. “I don’t know,” he answered, “because they’re not supposed to.” Thenwe chatted for a few moments in the pre-dawn cold as I pelted him with more ofmy complaints, none of which he could speak to with authority. He was polite; Ihope I was, too.

“If I try this stop again tomorrow, will that 516 bus waitfor the train?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I hope so.”

I hope so, too.

UPDATE, 6:20 p.m.:
The 516 bus arrived on time, but the 6 p.m. FrontRunner was 20 minutes late. Had a very pleasant chat with a UTA employee on the North Temple platform, though, who said he'd seen several trains with Comet cars in the four-passenger-car setup. I hope they begin including them as a matter of course. He said the learning curve for Utah County riders has not been steep and it's been difficult to get them on and off the trains in a hurry.

Now we're parked at Woods Cross awaiting a southbound train.

Grim story at the D-News

The Deseret News has a story about a body being found near FrontRunner tracks in Sunset:

SUNSET — The body of a woman apparently hit by a train was found near railroad tracks Thursday morning.

Just after 9 a.m., a passenger on a FrontRunner train spotted what was believed to be a body along the side of the tracks at an intersection near 2400 North.

Of dead trains and crowded cars ...

Caught the 4:27 p.m. FrontRunner home today, and we had to wait on the Centerville siding for a southbound train. But it wasn't the usual reason -- instead, it was because the 3:57 northbound train had broken down in Farmington, and all those poor folks had to wait, I guess, 30 minutes on the platform for our train to arrive so they could continue their journey northward.

The good news: Our driver told us what was going on -- that the train ahead of us had broken down and we needed to make room for the other passengers. This is progress, in my book: actually telling us why things aren't happening they way they're supposed to.

Thanks, UTA. That's a good thing.

Behind the scenes regarding UTA-university negotiations

There's an interesting Deseret News story about how UTA and Beehive State colleges and universities arrive at prices for students' transit passes. In the past, evidently, UTA negotiated yearly prices/contracts individually with each school -- which sunds great for UTA, but lousy for the schools who don't have tough negotiators.

But the really interesting tidbit was reporter Geoff Fattah's report that UTA's ridership is 25 percent students. Wow, that's a lot.


The story is packed with lots of terrific numbers and information. Here's a sampling:

UTA to ditch Pleasant View FrontRunner connection?

The Standard-Examiner has a bit of bad news concerning FrontRunner service to the Top of Utah: "UTA may cut FrontRunner runs, increase bus service in Pleasant View."

The Pleasant View line always has been the bastard child of the FR line, as the story notes:

The station was supposed to open along with the rest of the line in April 2008, but UTA couldn't maintain right of way in the area and had to share the stretch of track with Union Pacific.

Improvements that needed to be made to the shared stretch of track were delayed when railroad workers were diverted to repair tracks damaged by a landslide in Oregon.

The Pleasant View leg of FrontRunner was finally completed Sept. 29, 2008, nearly six months after the rest of the line.

Tribune: 'Salt Lake City announces clean-air challenge winners'

The Salt Lake Tribune has a brief about Salt Lake City's "Clear the Air Challenge" award winners.

"Since the Clear the Air Challenge began in 2009, Utahns have saved a total of 3.6 million vehicle miles and 6.2 million pounds of emissions," Becker said in a news release. "This is not the end of the road to help clear the air, but rather a congratulatory milestone to encourage us to reduce even more vehicle emissions for a sustainable future." 

'Mommy bloggers' and families take first rides aboard new TRAX line

Salt Lake Tribune photo

A story at The Salt Lake Tribune details the demonstration ride aboard TRAX for an invited group: so-called "mommy bloggers."

Showing how important social media have become, the first public demonstration ride on the new Mid-Jordan TRAX line Friday went to families of "mommy bloggers," who write online about parenting and children’s activities.

"These are some of Utah’s top bloggers," said Tauni Everett, who handles social media for the Utah Transit Authority. "They are read all over the state — and the nation. We hope they will advertise train safety for kids and parents."

Everett said bloggers will help spread the word about the new Mid-Jordan and West Valley City TRAX lines that begin service on Aug. 7.

Tribune news story: 'UTA looks to future transit growth'

A story at The Salt Lake Tribune today notes the UTA board is peering into the future, as best it can, in an effort to guide its planning in the years ahead.

Allegra said if the UTA and developers encourage more “transit-oriented development,” or building residences where people can walk to bus and train stops, it could fuel much of that growth in transit use. Land use plans adopted by regional planning agencies are pushing that idea more as a way to handle housing and transportation needs amid future growth.

Perlich encouraged UTA to reach out more to young people and ethnic groups as it plans its future to ensure that it meets their needs. Allegra said UTA is in good position to help handle that with plans for expanded TRAX, commuter rail, new streetcars, bus-rapid transit, express buses and traditional bus service.

Today's Tribune editorial criticizes firing of state archaeologists

"Valuing History" is the headline on a Tribune house editorial today. The paper's editorial board comes out swinging against the state's "vindictive" action on behalf of development-loving politicos and private business interests. It's a worthwhile argument to be made, but does anyone believe it will get those jobs back? Didn't think so.

The positions of state archaeologist Kevin Jones and assistants Derinna Kopp and Ronald Rood were eliminated, not only to save money, but to settle scores. The three had become an annoyance to some of the powerful people in the Legislature, governor’s office and the Utah Transit Authority, and they had opposed powerful real estate developers.

It seems they became targets after they fought a proposed site of a new FrontRunner station in Draper when it was discovered also to be the location of an ancient American Indian village. It was a major archaeological find, the earliest known example of corn cultivation in the Great Basin. The three pushed to get the station relocated, raising the ire of Terry Diehl, who was a member of the UTA Board of Trustees and, at the same time, an owner of a real estate company that wanted to locate transit-related developments at the original site.

Powerful people tend to be vindictive. Now this trio of knowledgeable scientists is off the state payroll, and the state is the poorer for it.

Tribune editorializes on TRAX safety

I missed it last month, but The Salt Lake Tribune's editorial board offered its collective opinion on the subject of train safety in a house editorial. It's headlined, "Watch for Trains."

It concludes:

On the West Valley line, drivers will have to learn to share the road with trains. On the Mid-Jordan line, where the trains will operate in their own rights of way, pedestrians and drivers will have to be vigilant at crossings.

Experience shows that when new lines open, there is a rash of accidents until people become familiar with the new hazard. We hope that last week’s death will warn people to take extraordinary care around the new TRAX lines.

Tribune: 'Bus from Salt Lake City to Park City — will it work financially?'

The Salt Lake Tribune has a piece on the possibility of UTA extending service to Park City.

For decades, folks in Park City have wished for mass transit over Parleys Summit and down into the Salt Lake Valley. But now that one is set to arrive in October, the financial outlook for the public bus route remains unclear.

Deseret News: 'Businesses still patient during TRAX construction'

Deseret News photo

The Deseret News has its own version of a story about the North Temple viaduct project that previously ran in the Tribune.

SALT LAKE CITY — Businesses along North Temple have been in "survival mode" for months — trying to hold out through the next 12 months of projected construction that will eventually produce a new light-rail line and revitalize the corridor between 300 West and Salt Lake City International Airport.

And by various accounts, many local business owners have struggled to stay afloat.

Tribune's story about North Temple viaduct adds info on new Airport TRAX-FrontRunner connection

Admittedly, I haven't been paying close attention to the progress of the airport TRAX line. So it was a surprise to read in The Salt Lake Tribune this morning that, as reporter Lee Davidson writes,

The $71 million viaduct will include a transfer station between TRAX trains that will stop atop the bridge, and FrontRunner commuter trains that will stop beneath it. “The stops will be connected by escalators,” [UTA spokesman Gerry] Carpenter said.

Cool FrontRunner photo

Found a cool FrontRunner photo on the Web today here. It's by a photographer named James Belmont. Makes me want to find more.

Tribune: 'Salt Lake cops: TRAX station-area death was homicide'

At The Salt Lake Tribune:

Salt Lake City police are investigating the death of a 27-year-old man early Thursday as a homicide.

Salt Lake City Fire Department dispatchers received a 911 from Utah Transit Authority at 12:07 a.m. Thursday reporting a severely injured man down in the area of the TRAX train station at 350 W. South Temple.

UTA refuses atheist organization's ads

The American Humanist Association posted notice on its website that UTA has refused to carry ads by the United Coalition of Reason.

The proposed advertisement, which was submitted to UTA, included the text: “Don’t believe in God? You are not alone.” UTA claimed that the advertisement did not meet its advertising policy. “Consistent with our policy,” UTA told UnitedCoR, “we don’t allow message ads from non-governmental organizations.”