Utah Valley explores departure from UTA

PROVO — A disconnection from the Utah Transit Authority is being explored, the effectiveness of commuter rail is under review and a sales-tax increase to fund transportation projects is a possibility.

And those are just the highlights.

For the past eight months, a task force made up of local elected leaders, transit experts and consultants have been working toward answering the question: What are the best alternatives for transit in Utah Valley?

"It's just not a simple conversation," said Provo Mayor Lewis K. Billings, a member of the task force. "Buses, light rail, commuter rail — all of those options are on the table."

And some of them do not include UTA, which began providing bus service in Utah Valley in 1985.

There are no UTA representatives on the task force, which Billings says allows the group to take an "independent look" at meeting Utah Valley's current and future transit needs.

"UTA is aware of what we're doing," he said. "Frankly, I think UTA has been very gentlemanly about this."

Spokesman Justin Jones said UTA stands by its service in Utah County and encourages such discussions among elected leaders.

"We think it's great for elected officials to look at all of their options," Jones said. "We hope they come up with a good solution."

The decision to explore transit options without UTA's involvement isn't meant to imply that Utah County leaders have become disenchanted with the transit authority, Billings said.

"For me, it's about figuring out what is going to serve our community and move people for the least dollars possible," he said.

Chad Eccles, transit planner for the Mountainland Association of Governments, said the task force is trying to become educated about the increasing number of transit options available to Utah Valley.

"UTA has had 20 years of operation in Utah County. It's not that they've been a bad service provider in any way, but sometimes you just have to ask, 'Is this what we want long term? ' That's all that's happening," said Eccles, a member of the task force who spent five years working for UTA on the TRAX project in Salt Lake City.

Perceived problems with low ridership of buses in Utah County led UTA in recent years to restructure its routes by focusing them near Brigham Young University, Utah Valley State College and other high-traffic centers. Those changes have resulted in a ridership increase of about 85 percent, Jones said.

But Billings says it has also created new problems.

"We have a very effective express bus system, and we basically have a kind of a student corridor shuttle system," he said, "but we don't really have countywide bus service."