The Utah Transit Authority has begun posting fliers at bus stops to warn about its upcoming bus-route redesign in Salt Lake County, and some riders worry the agency is ignoring their concerns and circumventing its board's approval of the redesign.

The UTA Board of Trustees is scheduled to hear a final update Wednesday about the redesign and approve a $500,000 budget increase to restore routes and service that were cut during the redesign's first draft. The board will also get an update about a proposed systemwide fare increase this July.

Nikki Christensen, a University of Utah student who created the U.'s Student/Staff Transit Coalition after hearing about the redesign, said UTA's posting of the fliers before its board reviews the redesign seems to indicate the agency doesn't care about rider concerns. UTA first announced the redesign in February, and since then, low-income advocates, the elderly, disabled and other people who depend on transit have vocally opposed some changes.

"For them to come back and say this is the largest change in transit history in Utah and not need any go-ahead from their board — I think that's arrogant," Christensen said Monday. "It's interesting that they wouldn't post signs at the bus stops during the public comment period when people could actually respond to what was happening."

UTA began posting the fliers sometime late last week, said spokesman Justin Jones. The fliers don't give specific details but generally announce that UTA is making route-number and actual route changes, he said.

Regarding the UTA board, Jones and others at the agency said the board is not required to approve any route changes. Instead, the board looks at company policies, budgets, goals and employee objectives.

"Route-specific information has been delegated to staff at UTA," said Jones. "Whether they (the board) approve them or not, some of these routes will change. Some of the route numbers will change."

Orrin T. Colby Jr., chairman of the UTA board, said he believes the public will be pleased overall with the route redesign and that perhaps riders were overreacting to the fliers posted at bus stops. Each month, the board has met with concerned individuals and UTA staff to review changes, and most comments have been positive, he said.

Bill Tibbitts, director of the Anti-Hunger Action Committee is not convinced. He plans to attend the board meeting on Wednesday with several low-income residents and protest UTA's posting of the fliers and implementation of the redesign.

"Does the board matter when management feels they can go ahead and implement major changes without any input from the board?" he asked.

For more information about the redesign, log on to: www.rideuta.com. The UTA board is scheduled to meet Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. at the UTA headquarters, 3600 S. 700 West. Public comment will be accepted at the beginning of the meeting.

---

E-mail: nwarburton@desnews.com