And while officials in the governments of Salt Lake County and various cities within it questioned or formally opposed light rail before its construction, many of those same communities are now actively seeking TRAX spurs. That attitude is shared by counterparts in the western United States. Ballot initiatives to provide financial support for transit projects were recently passed in Denver, Phoenix and Sacramento and other U.S. cities.

"Many cities across North America that are considering building light rail look to the successful TRAX system as a prime example of safe, efficient and affordable service," said Donna Aggazio, spokeswoman for the American Public Transit Association.

"Their ridership has always exceeded expectations. And a lot of development is going on along with the lines . . . , and that's a very positive sign that the community has embraced it."

For UTA general manager John Inglish, the debate about light rail's appropriateness for the Salt Lake Valley is over.

"For a few of those diehards (critics), of course, the debate will go on," Inglish said. "They were in such an entrenched position to begin with. For the general public . . . a complete transformation has taken place.

"In fact, in some ways, it almost worked out positively for us because talk radio and anti-light-rail people were so adamant about what a horrible thing it was going to be . . . that when it didn't, in fact, turn out to be that — it turned out to be a great success — we gained even greater credibility in the public's eye than we would have if there had not been that same debate. People were truly converted."

The safety question

Safety was a big concern of opponents, some of whom held up "Light Rail Kills Children" signs at that 1997 groundbreaking.

In five years, TRAX has had eight fatal accidents. Four of the deaths were determined by police to be suicides. Three others were pedestrians who accidentally got in the way of oncoming trains, and one was an occupant of an automobile. There have been other nonfatal, car-train accidents as well, but UTA officials note accidents will continue to occur if drivers fail to obey traffic laws.

"If anything, we have a better-than-average safety record. We've been very fortunate in that way," Inglish said. "We had a series of accidents (recently) one on top of the other, but keep in mind we hadn't had any for months and months.

"All three of those (recent) accidents were in rain storms, and . . . there are a lot of distractions because of the rain."

Michael Packard, private construction safety consultant and a longtime light-rail opponent, claims that before light rail's debut UTA officials predicted there would be only one accident every other year.