Billings cited his Provo home as an example. In order to ride the bus to work, he would have to walk to Orem to reach the nearest bus stop.

"There are those of us who feel like if we're going to have buses, we at some time have to have a plan to get to a full bus system," the mayor said.

Billings said he's impressed with bus service in Logan, which has its own transit district has has been providing fare-free service since 1992. The Cache Valley Transit District was established in 2000 to extend that service to surrounding cities.

Billings, Orem Mayor Jerry Washburn and other members of the task force have taken field trips to Logan to experience the service firsthand.

"That's a model we are quite interested in," Billings said of the Logan Transit District. "It's a model that's very distinct from ours. They provide walkable bus-stop access to the entire city of Logan within three to five blocks from every front door."

Costs of implementing a privatized bus operation in Utah Valley are not yet available, Eccles said.

"We would really need to do an in-depth analysis before we would feel confident in (outlining costs)," he said.

The transit authority in Logan is funded through Federal Transit Administration grants and a quarter-cent sales tax. It also partners with Utah State University in providing access to the campus.

Washburn said a tax increase of some type may be needed to meet Utah Valley's transit demands.

A quarter-cent of sales tax collected in Utah County goes toward transit, he explained. Salt Lake, Davis and Weber counties have put twice that toward transit.

"We're reticent about doing that," Washburn said.

Legislation sponsored by Rep. Jeff Alexander, R-Orem, and passed in 2003 gives county leaders the option of putting a quarter-cent sales tax increase on the ballot to fund transportation projects.

"We may need two new quarters — a quarter to build it and a quarter to operate it," Billings said.

For now, the task force is still trying to determine what to build.

Many elected leaders and transportation officials in Utah County have been "fixated" on commuter rail, Billings said, but consultants from Carter & Burgess engineering say that may not be the best option.

The firm, hired with funding from MAG to conduct an alternative analysis for the task force, has determined that more people would be served with the implementation of a light-rail system in Utah County rather than commuter rail.

"That was pretty interesting to hear," Billings said. "We all thought that (commuter rail) was the grand solution to all our woes."

And that type of misconception illustrates the need for transit task force, he said.

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E-mail: jpage@desnews.com