Utah County might run non-UTA buses

PROVO — Utah County's future must include transit but not necessarily local bus service provided by UTA, local elected leaders say.

An 11-month independent analysis of the county's transit needs and options has resulted in Transit Vision 2030, a long-term mobility strategy unveiled Thursday night during a meeting of the Mountainland Regional Planning Committee.

A task force, headed by Provo Mayor Lewis Billings, has identified six transit "opportunities" to meet challenges of growth and traffic in the county.

One of those includes taking over local bus service from UTA, a presence in Utah County since 1985.

The county is growing rapidly, Billings said, and the planned improvements to I-15 and a proposed new highway (Mountain View Corridor) likely won't be enough to keep up with the increased traffic.

"At some point, people are going to be pushed to consider (transit) alternatives," Billings said. "If we have real alternatives, I think people will consider giving them a try."

Current transit options in the county aren't enough and definitely won't be satisfactory in the next five to 15 years, he said.

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.

UTA reports that ridership has increased by about 85 percent since those changes were made, but Billings says that has also created something of a student shuttle corridor that doesn't meet the needs of most Utah County residents.

"Our feeling is there needs to be an evaluation of more local bus deployment so people feel it will work for them," he said.

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

The two services are coordinated to provide walkable bus-stop access within three to five blocks of every home in Logan. The system is funded through Federal Transit Administration grants and a quarter-cent sales tax.

If the MPO supports a similar service in Utah County, local jurisdictions could take control of local bus services as soon as 2008. UTA would continue to operate commuter services in the county.

The plan calls for local bus services to be coordinated by the Mountainland Association of Governments, with all planning, operations and funding falling to the local jurisdictions.

The next step is to conduct a feasibility study, which could begin as soon as August.