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.

Interesting Tribune story about TRAX ridership

From The Salt Lake Tribune:

 

"The new West Valley City and Mid-Jordan TRAX lines are still carrying far fewer riders now — 16 months after they opened — than projections estimated they would attract when they first began operation.

 

"Critics say that means Utah Transit Authority made a big error with its estimates and raises questions about whether the agency can really afford to operate them and other new rail lines." Read the rest here.

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.

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:

'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.

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.

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: 'TRAX moves to color coding'

The Salt Lake Tribune reports that UTA has begun color-coding its TRAX lines.

The Utah Transit Authority has decided what new “color name” to attach to each of its TRAX lines. Not surprisingly, the line that travels to the University of Utah will become the red line.

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.

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.”

UTA: Information on handicap access to new TRAX trains

As I ride FrontRunner, buses and TRAX each day, I notice a lot of people who use wheelchairs, walkers and the like accessing public transit. UTA just posted a page explaining the improved handicap access to its newest TRAX trains here.

Tribune: '10600 South to close this weekend'

From The Salt Lake Tribune:

A section of busy 10600 South in Sandy will be closed this weekend as Utah Transit Authority construction crews work on the future Draper TRAX line.

FOX13: UTA tests TRAX safety measures along Mid-Jordan line

At FOX13, there's a story about UTA testing the newly modified safety measures on the Mid-Jordan TRAX line. Read it here.

 

WEST JORDAN, Utah — Test TRAX trains were on the new Mid-Jordan line again Tuesday, four weeks after 15-year-old Shariah Casper was killed by a train in West Jordan.

Watch the video here:
 

New TRAX trains in service July 7, etc.

RailwayAge reports that,

Some TRAX passengers in Salt Lake City and vicinity will begin riding Siemens S70 light rail transit cars Thursday, July 7, as the cars begin entering revenue service. The S70s will enter limited service on direct trains that operate from Fashion Place Station (6400 South) in Murray to the University of Utah Medical Center Station on weekdays. The new trains will be featured on 10 northbound and 10 southbound trips each day.

The Mid-Jordan and West Valley TRAX lines are scheduled to open Aug. 7 and will operate exclusively with the new vehicles.

Those of us who frequently ride the downtown TRAX lines will find interesting:

UTA notes the S70 vehicles are low-floor cars that allow riders to board straight from the platform without climbing stairs.

I'm just curious as to whether the new trains work with existing platforms at established stations. I'm guessing they do, but maybe not.

And at The Salt Lake Tribune: "TRAX replacing broken electronic sign system"

When electronic signs at TRAX stations were new, they displayed when the next trains would arrive. But they quit working, and have been little more than digital clocks amid such problems as not being able to obtain replacement parts.

"The old signs had reached the end of their life cycle. We couldn’t get replacement parts. Support was not available. Some of the [companies] that built the original system had gone out of business," said UTA spokesman Gerry Carpenter.

He said UTA found that because of such problems, the old signs would not be compatible with new signs it is installing on the new Mid-Jordan and West Valley City lines (scheduled to open on Aug. 7) and other extensions that are under construction to Draper and Salt Lake City International Airport.

So UTA decided to install a new sign system. It has removed the old signs on the existing Sandy and University of Utah lines.

Carpenter said new signs will be installed at the older stations over the next several months. Transfer and high-traffic stations will receive them first, and they will be added at other stations as crews and resources are available, he said.

The Deseret News reports on a new UTA board member: Troy Walker, a Draper city councilman.

And a press release notes that:

Lawson Products, Inc., an industrial distributor of more than 300,000 maintenance and repair solutions, was awarded a three-year contract to supply all of the Utah Transit Authority's (UTA) fastener needs. As per the agreement, Lawson Products will provide a minimum of 2,500 different fastener products including bolts, hex head cap screws, miniature fasteners, nuts, screws, socket products and washers to the multi-modal transportation leader that will be used for ongoing train track, rail car and bus maintenance.

Finally, at KCPW: "Salt Lake-Park City Bus Route Slated for October Launch"

Test runs on the Mid-Jordan TRAX lines have been delayed

At The Salt Lake Tribune:

The Utah Transit Authority is again delaying resumption of test runs on its new Mid-Jordan TRAX line as it considers how to avoid accidents like the one that killed a 15-year-old in West Jordan on June 8.