Salt Lake Transit News Thread

[Makid]

I have been busy and haven't posted the 2018 Q3 APTA ridership report:

https://www.apta.com/resources/stati...rship-APTA.pdf

Highlights:

FrontRunner: 19.3K average weekday ridership. Up 5.52% over Q3 2017.
Trax: 59.8K average weekday ridership. Down 3.80% from Q3 2017.
Bus: 68.6K average weekday ridership. Down 0.15% from Q3 2017.

Total: 155.9K average weekday ridership. Down 1.25% from Q3 2017.

Impressions:

Bus service ridership decline appears to be ending. It does appear that the UVX ridership has increased usage as no other lines have opened or seen an increase in service during the Q3 2017 to Q3 2018 window.

This does lead to the expectation that Q3 2019 will see bus ridership increase over Q3 2018 as UVX will have been in service for a year (9 months with dedicated lanes in operation) and we will have increased bus service and frequency increases in Salt Lake City. There will be additional increases as well by UTA but not much information is known about that currently.

Trax should see a lower rate of decrease nearing a leveling out by Q3 2019 as the S-Line will see faster speeds as well as increases in bus services within SL County and FrontRunner increases. Additionally, as more TODs are built, ridership should increase, even if slightly.

FrontRunner will continue to see increased ridership. This is due to the increased bus service and the transit passes for both BYU and UVU making FrontRunner an easier choice.

This increase does pose potential problems for UTA as the current 3 car trains are nearing maximum capacity during peak times and UTA has said they don't have plans currently to add an additional car to the train sets. Without either increasing frequencies or increasing space for passengers, FrontRunner may see decreases in Peak Time usage. Off peak usage will continue to increase from additional student usage.

Regarding the Airport and service:

https://www.deseretnews.com/article/...t-expands.html

As Salt Lake City International Airport undergoes a massive $3.6 billion redevelopment, the leader of the nation's second-largest air carrier is touting improved passenger experiences on the ground and in the air when the new facility comes online.

Speaking Friday to an audience of business leaders at the Salt Lake Chamber's annual Economic Outlook and Public Policy Summit in downtown Salt Lake City, Delta Airlines CEO Ed Bastian said the expansion of the international terminal and upgrading of other amenities will greatly enhance air travel for passengers.

"We believe at Delta, and we fight against the notion that air travel is just something that must be endured," he told the audience gathered in the main ballroom of the Salt Lake Marriott Downtown at City Creek. "It should be part of an experience that you look forward to along the journey."

He mentioned plans for a potential direct flight to Asia once the first phase of the redevelopment of the Salt Lake airport is completed in fall 2020 with an enlarged and enhanced international terminal. He also said the airline's member-only passenger lounge at the airport, the Delta Sky Club, will triple in size to accommodate more patrons and increase customer comfort.

While not reported in the Deseret News, they are currently looking at adding Seoul, South Korea as the primary Asian destination. He did reference that Tokyo failed only because of limited connections. Seoul has multiple partner airlines and routes which help to drive passenger connections.

We should hear confirmation on this either later in 2019 or in early 2020.

We will hear of additional planned domestic and international flights being added to the airport over the next 18 months as well.

[Makid]

UTA has been promising to focus on buses rather than new rail projects. Now it’s proposing a $1B TRAX expansion

https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics...een-promising/

For the past four years, the Utah Transit Authority repeatedly promised to focus its resources on filling gaps in bus service frequency and coverage instead of seeking more of the big rail projects that had created $2 billion in debt. (Debt service is UTA’s single-largest expenditure, costing $119.6 million this year.)

But this past week, UTA officials told an advisory board that the agency is eying extending TRAX light-rail service all the way to Lehi, mostly to help spur development at the soon-to-be-vacated state prison site at Point of the Mountain.

Early estimates say that project could cost up to $1.2 billion. Maybe more.

Timelines have penciled in finishing it as early as the end of 2023, or as late as the end of 2026, depending on the alternative chosen.

A TRAX extension to Lehi has been in long-range plans for years, but in limbo without a firm timeline or funding. That is changing because of requests from the Point of the Mountain Development Commission, said Mary DeLorretto, UTA director of capital projects.

She noted the commission was established by the Legislature “with the goal to maximize development opportunity on the state-owned land on the prison property.” It has been looking at many scenarios to do that, and they all need more roads or better transit.

DeLorretto said UTA — plus the Utah Department of Transportation and regional transportation planning agencies — “saw the need to support the commission in developing those projects.”

So she said they aim to soon begin an $800,000 study about running a TRAX line through the 700-acre prison site and on to Lehi, as the envisioning process by the Point of the Mountain Commission proposes. The end of the TRAX blue line now is in Draper.

She said transportation agencies have pledged money toward the study to look at various alternatives, and to develop better cost estimates. They also plan to approach others for financial help, including businesses around Silicon Slopes in Lehi.

But they may not have enough money to cover the full price tag. “We hopefully will be asking the state Legislature if it can fill that shortfall.”

She recently showed the UTA advisory board — appointed by cities and counties in the transit agency’s service area — the two main alternatives being considered.

An east alignment would extend the blue line from the current end-of-the-line Draper Town Center station to wind around foothills to the Silicon Slopes area in Lehi — but would include a spur through the prison site.

That alignment is what has been in long-range plans for years, except for the newly proposed spur through the prison area.

A second alignment would take TRAX west from the Sandy Civic Center station (near Rio Tinto Stadium) to the FrontRunner commuter train alignment in South Jordan. TRAX would follow the FrontRunner line until it comes near the prison site, would traverse it and then continue to Lehi.

DeLoretto said early estimates show the east alignment would cost less — about $739 million — but would likely also attract fewer riders, about 33,000 a day, as much of its route travels along unpopulated foothill areas.

The west alignment is projected to cost $1.2 billion, but attract 44,700 riders a day.

DeLoretto said the upcoming study will look at possible routes; options besides light rail; “what type of ridership we may get — and also the travel times"; “the land use and economic development potential”; and do “more conceptual engineering so we have a better idea of what it’s going to cost.”

After that, officials would need to conduct an environmental study and develop a funding plan — including a decision on whether to seek federal funding for it.

If only local funding is used (requiring less intensive environmental studies), timelines predict the east alignment could be finished in 2023 or the west alternative completed in 2024. If federal funding is sought, the east route may be finished in 2025 or the west in 2026.

Like the comment I left, I think the East option is best but it should be extended to American Fork. Ridership would be higher than the West Alignment and the cost would be lower (nearly $250 Million lower). If the through line extention is needed, Draper, Sandy and South Jordan can pay for it with their portion of the 40/40/20 tax increase. Being that it is probably close to $800 Million for that section I am not sure if they will see value for Trax. BRT would be cheaper and move as many people.

The funding is primarily coming from the State and a 2023 to 2024 opening is within the dates agreed upon for Adobe to move to Lehi and expand.

The State is required by agreements to get Trax to Lehi before 2025 or 2026 (based on previous stories and statements from Adobe).

Without the agreements, I think money is still better spent on FrontRunner upgrades.

With the East Alignment, the Stub end in the prison redevelopment area could eventually be extended West to meet the Red Line. This probably would be cheaper than just filling in the Stub to Sandy mini loop and ridership would be drastically higher.

A recap of sorts:
East Alignment: $739 Million - 33,000 average daily riders
West Alignment: $1.2 Billion - 44,500 average daily riders
East Alignment with American Fork: $1 Billion - 50K to 60K average daily riders.
East Alignment with American Fork + Red Line extension to stub: $1.7 Billion - 80K - 90K daily riders.
FrontRunner Electrified and Double Tracked: $1.3 Billion - 90K average daily riders.

The best bang overall would be the 2 italicized options for $3 Billion for up to 165K new daily riders all without counting any additional bus routes/ridership.

With State bonding using 100% local funds, this could all be completed by 2026. Using Federal funds, it would take until 2029. Utah being awarded the 2030 Olympics could help increase Federal funding to speed up the projects.

[StevenF]

I prefer the east alignment as it continues the current blue line into Lehi and the section coming out of the Draper at the prison site can be used to extend along 123rd into Harriman.

[Hatman]

My scattered thoughts:

I'm in total agreement with you, Makid. Go with the east alignment and use the money saved to implement a BRT for the areas the west alignment serves that the east skips over. In total it will cost less than the west alignment and probably have more ridership because the two services can cover more ground.

Let trains be trains, and let buses be buses. TRAX will run so much better if it is in an old railroad alignment. Placing LRT next to freeways is something that ought to be done as a last resort of no other ROW is available.

I think the stub-end line through the prison site should also be BRT. With how short it would be and how steep that route would have to be I think BRT would be absolutely perfect for super-frequent electric buses.

Practically speaking it's totally going to be the east option. The bridges are already built for it! This study with a west option is just political posturing - a 'we tried!' action to satisfy the stakeholders before they go ahead with the only option that is really practical.

Extending the Blue Line to American Fork should be given just as much a priority as getting TRAX to the point of the mountain area. That way people can commute there via TRAX from two directions, doubling its usefulness.

I'm mostly just impressed to see any movement on this project at all. It's nice to see transit maps back in the news!

[Liberty Wellsian]

So is Utah county going to start contributing more to transit? My one concern is that this may come at the expense of other projects in communities willing to actually help pay for them.

[s.p.hansen]

I’m definitely liking the East Option better and agree with others here that FrontRunner improvements would be a better use of additional funds.

Originally Posted by Liberty Wellsian

So is Utah county going to start contributing more to transit? My one concern is that this may come at the expense of other projects in communities willing to actually help pay for them.

They agreed to the same taxing structure as the rest of the Wasarch Front Counties to fund FrontRunner. I think it’s good to give them skin in the game and connecting the TRAX to their fastest growing tech / business center gives them skin in the game.

A lot of cities end up filling their sand pits and quarries with massive amounts of medium and high density housing. I see that as being the primary development that will occur where the proposed TRAX runs alongside the Geneva sand pit.

[Stenar]

I prefer the west option. There ought to be another connection between Frontrunner and TRAX in the South Valley. I prefer the west, unless they create a BRT line simultaneously going from the Sandy TRAX stop and following this route, as Hatman suggested. I’d also like to see the extension of the red line built sooner if the east option is chosen.

[Hatman]

Here is a concept route for an 'Enhanced Bus' line to connect Sandy with the South Jordan and Draper FrontRunner Stations, as well as the Prison site and the future TRAX stop by Highland Drive (if/when the east alignment is picked).

I tried not to use any dedicated bus lanes and instead relied upon secondary roads as much as I could. Station stops would be on the sides of the street but would include platforms and would allow the buses to stop very briefly in traffic. Example from UVX:



We start at the Convention Center, in the north east corner of the parking lot by the existing TRAX station. This section of the parking lot can be turned into a sort of transit center with a bus turn-around and a staging area for the whole route. The bus then uses Town Ridge Parkway to get to Monroe Street, which it follows through 'downtown' Sandy.

I couldn't find any good way to get across the freeway/railroad tracks, so I decided that 10200 South was a perfect location for a new bridge. The buses would 'corkscrew under then over the bridge so as to get close to the mall for a convenient station location. Once across the bridge, the buses would head south down Jordan Gateway (Street), passing the FrontRunner Station and continuing south until 12300 South.






At 12300 South the buses would go east/west along 123rd through two lights. I know this street is busy but it isn't a long enough stretch for bus lanes, and there is no room beneath the railroad bridge. I think that bus-specific signals that allow the buses to proceed before the rest of the traffic would be just as effective as separated bus lanes.



After passing the Draper FrontRunner station the route goes through the prison site and up the steep hill to the future Highland Drive TRAX station:



In total, this route would be ~10 miles long. Without the need to rebuild any of the streets to fit separated bus lanes, the only construction would be the new stations and the new bridge over I-15. Compared to running TRAX through the same corridor it would be an absolute bargain!
Bus stations can be shorter and so wouldn't disrupt the area around them nearly as much as a TRAX station. Buses like the UVX line can run even more frequently than a rail line can, and so can be even more convenient. And if electric buses are used, this route will have no more impact on the air quality and environment than a TRAX line.

I say build the East TRAX line, because alternative bus routes like this can be done!

[Makid]

Using Hatman's route and idea for the BRT line, it could be done for about $70 to $80 million depending on how frequent the new buses would run. It would also take only about 6 months in total to complete the new bridge, stations and configure the bus priority signalling.

This is an absolute steal.

Additionally, with the BRT route as shown, no stub would need to be built, meaning that Trax to American Fork plus the BRT route could both be done for approximately $800 Million.

This would give Sandy and South Jordan the shuttle they are wanting between Trax and FrontRunner, BRT through the POM redevelopment area and Trax to American Fork.

Now we only need to get the plans to someone within UTA/UDoT/SL County/Utah County that has some clout or multiple people showing a cheaper option for the even better results.

[Always Sunny in SLC]

Hatman, I am trying to put myself in the mind of a commuter and it seems like the bus option would greatly increase the commute time for a Southbound traveler, versus the East and West alignment options, who is commuting to the future prison development. Maybe the SL Trib published map is highly simplified, but your version seems to be much more circuitous. I can't imagine wanting to get off at Sandy Civic and want to take the bus through that route. How long would you estimate that route to take end to end?

[Hatman]

Makid - I'm happy you like the route! ...but I think you're being a little optimistic about the costs and timeline. I have a gut feeling that a bridge over I-15 and the railroad tracks would cost more than that and take longer to approve and construct. But your points hold that a bus route like this one could be implemented much faster and for far cheaper than a rail route.

Always Sunny - That is a valid criticism. My suggestion is if you are commuting south to the prison site on the blue line, to stay on the blue line and then approach the prison site from the south east. This may seem circuitous too, but it will be faster than taking my bus route from one end to the other. I think it will ultimately be faster than even the West TRAX route, and here is why:

Let's look at the R Line in Denver. This LRT route is parallel to a freeway for its entire route. Much of its route is within a freeway median or freeway ROW. Some of it is on surface streets in Aurora. Basically, it's a pretty good picture of what the West option for this TRAX extension could be, since there would be a surface-street section in Sandy and then a freeway portion through draper.

The R-Line is 10.5 miles long, and a trip from one end to the other takes about 1 hour. This makes the calculation easy - the R-Line runs at an average speed of 10.5 miles per hour.

Let's compare this to the Draper Extension for TRAX opened in 2013, since the East option would be a continuation of that extension in the same ROW with the same conditions (exclusive ROW, broad curves for high-speed running, etc). The Draper extension is 3.5 miles long and it takes trains 7 minutes to run that length.

(3.5 miles / 7 minutes)*(60 minutes / 1 hour) = 30 miles per hour average running speed.

I think these numbers speak for themselves pretty well. TRAX trains will run faster when they operate as trains along old train routes. I don't know what the exact design of the West option will be, but I'm fairly confident that the fastest way to get to the prison site by transit will be by building the TRAX east option, then having a frequent bus shuttle between the future TRAX highland station and the Draper FrontRunner station (and hopefully beyond!).

Perhaps the prison site is so lucrative that it will justify rerouting the entire TRAX line to serve all the super-high density office space that will go up there. My guess is that the site will be filled with more of the same kind of medium-sized office parks surrounded by enormous parking lots, and I do not think it will be worth rerouting an important inter-county rail line for the sake of sprawling office space.

[Hatman]

I just realized I didn't answer your question - how long would my concept bus route take?

I'm guessing between 30-40 minutes for the full route between Sandy Expo and Highland Drive Trax Stations. This is based on the fact that the ~9 mile-long UVX line (everything north of Provo Central, since UTA has insisted on breaking the route up) takes just under 30 minutes to complete.

Like the UVX route, the purpose is not to be the fastest option. FrontRunner gets between Orem and Provo in 7 minutes. Why have bus run between the same two stations and take 4 times longer? Because there are a lot of destinations in between that the rail line cannot reach. No one is expected to ride the full distance of the UVX route (except for true transit nerds, like me! )
There is a similar situation in the Sandy-Draper area - a lot of destinations in a concentrated area between rail transit stops. The confusing thing is that TRAX is technically capable of leaving rail ROW's and serving some of these destinations directly. I am firmly in the camp that it should not - it should continue as fast as possible in an exclusive rail ROW up over the point of the mountain to Adobe and Lehi, then on to American Fork. A bus route with the service level of UVX going between 2 FrontRunner Stations and 2 TRAX stations can be very useful in connecting destinations to the 'skeleton' of rail routes.

One thing to keep in mind is that with this 12-mile extension to Lehi, the TRAX blue line will become one of the longest LRT lines in North America, stretching 31 miles from Salt Lake Central all the way into Lehi. If the line gets extended another 4.5 miles into American Fork, I think it will be the second-longest LRT line in the world, only second behind one in Belgium. (I'm not sure, these numbers are harder to find - for the US I think the current longest is the LA Gold line at 27 miles.) With this kind of frankly ridiculous length, I think we need to make it a high priority to keep the TRAX trains going as fast as we can, because service interruptions along a transit line that long can have huge repercussions.

[Old&New]

What about this alignment? would this negate the need for priority signals?

Would require a pedestrian bridge over the tracks though...

[Makid]

There has been an update to the possible expansion of Trax, particularly in the ridership numbers: https://www.ksl.com/article/46475553...to-utah-county

A study for the project estimated the east alignment would provide transport for 36,000 to 45,700 riders per day, while the west alignment would collect 43,000 to 44,700 riders per day, according to the agency.

These estimates make the West Alignment even less likely to happen as the West Alignment may have less ridership than the East Alignment.

With these numbers, pushing the East Alignment to American Fork might put it over 75K new riders adding to the justification for extending the East Alignment. I think they need to drop the stub until the Red Line is extended through the area, unless the Stub is justification for the Red Line extension.

In other transit news:

People are starting to get the vision' of completed UVX bus line in Utah County
https://www.deseretnews.com/article/...ah-county.html

Since hitting the road in August, the new Utah Valley Express bus line, or UVX, has drastically increased the number of people using public transportation in Utah County. The bus route was completed last month.

"Last year before UVX started, in the whole of Utah County. we had 2.4 million boardings. UVX from August to this week hit one million boardings, just on UVX. And that has also spurred ridership on the other buses in Utah County. People are starting to get the vision of transit being able to work for them," said Mary DeLaMare-Schaefer, UTA regional general manager....

It sounds like UVX has severely increased overall transit ridership in Utah County. I think this is the main reason that Bus Ridership in Q3 2018 was down only 0.15%.

Then there is this quote from the article:

Although the bus line is for everyone in Utah Valley, many of the riders are students from Brigham Young University and Utah Valley University. Carlton Christensen, who represents Salt Lake County on the UTA board of trustees, said 46 percent of the ridership is from Utah Valley University, 38 percent is from BYU and 15 percent comes from the rest of the community.

It is possible that those 15% are only taking UVX because it is free. The BYU/UVU passes cover their transit. I think the number would be higher than 15% if the rest of the network was free as that would greatly increase connectivity. Additionally, the lack of bus service in Utah County (due to their aversion to taxes) also should be taken into account as there is limited bus routes that connect to UVX.

The numbers help to show the strength of UVX while also showing the desperate need for additional service within Utah County.

[Hatman]

Originally Posted by Old&New

What about this alignment? would this negate the need for priority signals?

Would require a pedestrian bridge over the tracks though...

This route would work very well too. It would definitely speed up the buses along the route since they would need to go through fewer signals. It would cost more to build, though, since a new road around the back side of the Draper Station would need to be constructed, along with the Pedestrian bridge, so it will all depend on what the appropriate balance of considerations are (time/money to build vs quality operations).
I think a pedestrian bridge at that location is a good idea anyway, with all the new (and old) housing on the east side of the tracks, so perhaps by the time a BRT/Enhanced Bus line gets built the bridge will no longer be an issue.

By the way, Old&New, it was your use of a spiral in a downtown transit map that made me think to use one on this bus route concept. Your maps are one of the reason I love this forum.

[bob rulz]

It has pretty consistently been shown that people are willing to pay for transit through taxes once they can actually see the positive effects of transit. Now that UVX is up and running and seems to be wildly successful, Utah County will be scrambling for more options. The Blue Line extension to Lehi will only enhance that.

Now if only we could get proper BRT or enhanced bus routes in Salt Lake County. I really hope UTA makes that a high priority with the extra funding they're going to be getting.

Speaking of TRAX extensions, does anybody know what came of the studies about possibly extending TRAX into southern Davis County? I haven't heard anything pertaining to that for a long time.

[Makid]

Originally Posted by bob rulz

It has pretty consistently been shown that people are willing to pay for transit through taxes once they can actually see the positive effects of transit. Now that UVX is up and running and seems to be wildly successful, Utah County will be scrambling for more options. The Blue Line extension to Lehi will only enhance that.

Now if only we could get proper BRT or enhanced bus routes in Salt Lake County. I really hope UTA makes that a high priority with the extra funding they're going to be getting.

Speaking of TRAX extensions, does anybody know what came of the studies about possibly extending TRAX into southern Davis County? I haven't heard anything pertaining to that for a long time.

Trax into south Davis County was cancelled. It was then studied as a Streetcar or BRT. People fought against the Streetcar almost as much as they fought against Trax in the planned route. They were afraid that the trains would jump the tracks and hit children.

The route was finalized as BRT and has completed a preliminary EIS. I think that it is slated to begin construction around 2025 to 2030 unless Davis County provides additional funding to speed it up.

There are however very long range plans for Trax along Redwood Road but this is 50 to 60 years out at best so I would consider it very unlikely that Davis County ever gets any additional fixed rail transit, excluding future FrontRunner upgrades.

[bob rulz]

Originally Posted by Makid

Trax into south Davis County was cancelled. It was then studied as a Streetcar or BRT. People fought against the Streetcar almost as much as they fought against Trax in the planned route. They were afraid that the trains would jump the tracks and hit children.

You're kidding me, right? God people are just flat out stupid, I swear.

Anyway, I'm all for more BRT. I just can't believe people still hold on to these ridiculous fears about trains.

[Always Sunny in SLC]

Originally Posted by bob rulz

You're kidding me, right? God people are just flat out stupid, I swear.

Anyway, I'm all for more BRT. I just can't believe people still hold on to these ridiculous fears about trains.

Yeah they do and many others, you just have to read the comments section on an article about development or public transit. Although, there should be a warning as it is dangerous for your blood pressure. When I hear the insanely ignorant comments on subjects I am educated about it makes me want to be at least passably educated on all subjects so I avoid having those kinds of opinions in other areas.

[bob rulz]

I did make the mistake of wading into the comments on the Deseret News article about the Lehi Blue Line extension. While there were no comments about trains jumping the tracks and hitting children, there was still an extreme amount of ignorance and selfishness (well I'm never gonna ride this so why should my taxes pay for it? etc).