Utah transportation officials peek into future
By Lee Davidson
The Salt Lake Tribune
Coalville • The state’s top highway and transit officials peeked together Thursday into the future of transportation.
And they foresee trains up Wasatch canyons, transit fees that charge per mile traveled, more people living by transit stops to ease commutes, TRAX trains without overhead wires, and more roads sharing space with future trains or special-lane express buses.
The discussion came during a regular meeting of the Utah Transportation Commission — which oversees highway funding — where Utah Transit Authority officials made an annual report on its plans. Both agencies mentioned some long-term ideas that are in the works.
It started when UTA General Manager Michael Allegra said long-range plans call for “transit oriented development” around 150 current or planned rail stations along the Wasatch Front. He said residences and businesses close to stops make commutes easier, and take more people off highways. Both agencies said future roads and transit are being designed to encourage such development near transit.
Allegra said long-range plans also depend on more people leaving cars for transit to allow highways to handle expected huge population growth. He said he believes that will happen, in part, because the younger generation would rather spend commuting time on a computer or Kindle than holding a steering wheel. He said they also care more about the environment.
To help make rail and bus rapid transit more feasible, both agencies mentioned plans for rights of way to be share roads and rail or bus rapid transit. For example, the Mountain View Corridor in Utah and Salt Lake Counties is designed to eventually share a freeway and a rail or bus rapid transit line.
To help pay the way, Allegra said UTA soon will have “distance-based fees.” Instead of charging the current flat fee to travel anywhere in its bus or TRAX system, he said some high-tech GPS advancements will allow it to charge passengers for each mile traveled.
Allegra said such improvements that track current locations of trains and buses will also help passengers waiting for a bus or train to easily check via a cell phone about where the next bus is, and when it will arrive.
Transportation Commission Chairman Jeffrey Holt mentioned that with more planned trains, he worries about having too many overhead wires for TRAX.
Allegra said train manufacturers are working on “wireless trains.” He said he expects that technology may be mature enough for use by the time the area looks at hoped-for trains up Big and Little Cottonwood canyons. Allegra said he believes demand for more trains in more places will grow.
Allegra also said he envisions more streetcars, and sees them as helping local development. He said many businesses are more willing to invest along streetcar lines, because tracks show permanent commitment to an area.
UTA is designing its first streetcar line from a TRAX station in South Salt Lake to the Sugar House area. Eventually, it is expected to go to the University of Utah. Another streetcar line is in long-range plans in Ogden to Weber State University. And Allegra said more may come in other communities.
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politic...s-bus.html.csp
Image by thetransportpolitic.com
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