Bus riders protest UTA plan to boost fares

More than 100 bus riders showed up at a public meeting Thursday to protest a fare increase being proposed by the Utah Transit Authority.

The meeting at the Salt Lake Main Library was one of several UTA has held the past month about the fare increase, which ranges from 25 cents to $1.50 for a one-way fare. Many of the people also complained about a bus-system redesign that UTA is proposing in the Salt Lake area.

Public comment about the redesign ended earlier this month.

"Now is not the time to do this," said Roger Borgenicht, a transit supporter and key player in the debates over the Legacy Parkway. "It's a bad time to do this (a fare increase) when they're redesigning."

The redesign would reduce the number of routes in Salt Lake from 98 to about 80. UTA originally said the reduction in routes would be greater but has since clarified the number because it didn't account for things such as night routes, which are being renumbered but not cut.

UTA is now in the process of reviewing comment about the redesign, and officials said they will announce possible changes to the redesign sometime in May.

DeNorris Bradley, a Salt Lake resident, said Thursday that he wished UTA had better communicated its plan to redesign the system, in addition to the proposed fare increases. Residents should have known about the plans before they voted to raise taxes last November to build TRAX, he said.

With the fare increase, Bradley said he will be paying $67 in 2009 to ride the bus each month. His current monthly pass is $50.

"We can't afford this because we make minimum wage or sub-minimum wage," Bradley said about many UTA bus riders.

Other people at the meeting said they believed UTA was not being upfront about its reasoning for the fare increase and redesign. Bill Tibbitts, with the Crossroads Urban Center, showed up at the event wearing a "Pinocchio" nose to get across that point.

Other attendees wore stickers showing a picture of UTA general manager John Inglish with a long "Pinocchio" nose.

Chad Saley, a UTA spokesman, said the agency has been nothing but upfront about the fare increases and redesign. The agency has held several public meetings, he said, and plans to make any adjustments that are needed.

For more information about the redesign and fare increases, log on to rideuta.com.

Additional public meetings will be held about the fare increases next week in Utah County and Tooele County.

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E-mail: nwarburton@desnews.com