Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson has joined with low-income advocates and transit riders to urge the Utah Transit Authority to create a task force to study how to increase bus ridership.

In a letter dated May 22, Anderson said that Census data show that fewer than 18,000 people in Salt Lake County use public transportation to get to work.

"If UTA were to come up with a plan for reaching out to the community with a positive message, we might double that number in five years or less," Anderson wrote.

On Wednesday, a day after Anderson's letter was sent, the UTA Board of Trustees approved extra funding for a massive redesign of the Salt Lake County bus system. The redesign consolidates current bus routes, reshuffles them to higher-ridership areas, and moves the buses out of neighborhoods onto busier streets.

The board also agreed to restore 55 of 80 bus routes in Salt Lake County that had been proposed for elimination as part of the redesign, after uproar from transit riders about the plans.

During a Thursday meeting of Salt Lake County mayors, Anderson said he still stands by his letter, but gave no opinion about the redesign in general.

Orrin T. Colby Jr., chairman of the UTA board, said board members have not yet decided what to do in response to the letter. He said he had mixed feelings about it.

"What is a task force, and is it really any different than what we've done where we've involved groups in the community?" he said. "But it is fair to say there will be ongoing communication in the community with interest groups, just as there has been."

On Thursday, UTA met with seven community activists who have expressed concern about the redesign. Invitations to meet with the agency were sent to 100 low-income advocates and transit riders who have opposed the redesign, said spokesman Justin Jones.

The redesign will be implemented Aug. 26.

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