Quote:
Originally Posted by i-215
An excellent video. I must say Frontrunner looks disappointing. KSL also ran a piece last night showing not only is Frontrunner slower, but it actually costs more than driving a car that gets 25 MPG.
I'd say that wouldn't matter since fuel is going up in price, except UTA is rising their fares as fast as fuel prices go up.
In the end if commuter rail costs as much as my car, I'll keep driving.
Thanks again for the video!
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I'm still holding out hope that things are going to get better with time, especially now that the free ride is over. The morning commute has been flawless each day this week, its the afternoons that are messy. Again, I think that this is because the system has been overloaded with people trying it out for free.
It seems to me that Frontrunner's biggest flaw is that is runs on a single track for most of the alignment, with just a few sections of passing track. The problem that this creates is that if a train gets just a few minutes off schedule, it screws up all of the passing sequences, hence all of the stopping and waiting while trains pass each other since they have to share a track. My train home last night was stopped for almost 15 minutes between downtown and Woods Cross to let a SB train pass us, then we just kept getting further and further behind because we had to wait around 10 minutes in Farmington and 15 in Clearfield for trains to pass us.
Also, they do a terrible job at announcing what is going on and why the train keeps stopping, which is quite frustrating for passengers on their way home from work wondering why in the hell their train is just parked on the track going nowhere.
Regarding cost, KSL only considered the cost of gas, not any of the other incidental costs of driving. Also, I would guess that less than 30% of riders are actually paying full fares. Most, (like me) have ED passes, or ECO passes or some other reduced or completely free pass from schools, employers and the like. For me, Frontrunner takes about 15-20 minutes longer than driving to work, but it is completely free, so in the end it's worth the hassle.