Commuter rail system speeding toward Utah

However, stops will be fewer than TRAX. The goal is movement, said John Inglish, UTA general manager. Commuter rail will be like the freeway, with light rail and the bus providing access to destinations, including the airport and downtown Salt Lake.

When extended into Utah County, stops may include Orem and Provo. In Salt Lake County, Murray will have a station, just across from the new IHC hospital on the corner of 5300 South and State.

"It's the spine," Inglish said. "It's the I-15 of the region, and 50 years from now it'll be carrying hundreds of thousands of people."

Yes, optimistic. But Inglish said he is basing his words on projections for growth. Like California, Utah's population is expanding. Congestion has worsened as people move from Salt Lake to outlying cities and counties.

High-speed trains won't solve traffic woes, but they will take 5,900 people off the road, according to opening day projections for commuter rail's first phase. UTA officials anticipate that ridership will be greater, given the success of TRAX.

But the question remains whether that dip in traffic is worth the expense. Who will ride commuter rail? Is it a necessary, "fiscally responsible" use of taxpayer dollars? Will it benefit commuters?

"It gives us, certainly, one more arrow in our quiver," Inglish said. "We're at that point where traffic is growing much faster than the systems in place can develop capacity to support. We're all in kind of a bind, and what are we going to do? Well, this nation is resilient, we find new ways. One of the ways is public transit."

Making connections

Metrolink, based in Los Angeles, has weekday ridership of at least 40,000. The Coaster, based in Oceanside, has weekday ridership of about 6,000. Both systems, two of 19 commuter rail systems operating in the United States, are over 10 years old.

At least 27 new commuter rail systems have been proposed, many in the West.

Francisco Oaxaca, Metrolink manager of media and external communications, said commuter trains are a product of growth in the suburbs and a work force that travels to congested business centers. The train provides a connection between home and work, an alternative to a lengthy commute, he said.

"You've got multiple areas that you can consider employment centers, and the affordability of housing is moving farther and farther (away)," said Oaxaca, who is based in Los Angeles. "You've got the combination of people living where they can afford it and working somewhere they can get paid enough."