Here's hoping you hop aboard

TRAX ridership continues at a strong pace. People like the dependability and frequency of service that trains provide.

But bus ridership in Salt Lake County is a different story. Utah Transit Authority officials say it has declined 16 percent over a decade.

That's disturbing news because buses remain the backbone of UTA's system. It's particularly disturbing at a time when gas prices are rising to near record levels and many everyday commuters ought to be looking at mass transit as an affordable and reliable alternative to their cars. Even if a sizeable number of people drive their cars to TRAX stations for the ride into work, that isn't doing much to relieve congestion or to fulfill mass-transit's potential. It's just creating a different sort of auto commute.

To its credit, UTA understands all this. Beginning Aug. 26, a new redesigned bus system will take effect. As is always the case with change, this one has elicited strong criticisms from those who ride transit the most, and from those who have no other alternatives. The authority is trying to tailor its routes more toward market demands, and that can be tricky in a business where a share of the customers are those for whom there is no real market.

UTA's plan, honed and refined after listening to many concerns and complaints, seems to be on the right path. Time will tell whether it accomplishes its goal. A combination of new TRAX lines, the forthcoming FrontRunner commuter rail line and a strong bus system ought to generate the type of car-free confidence residents and visitors need in order to hop aboard. Absent a strong bus system, however, the three-legged transit stool will fall.

That means busses must do what people find attractive about train service. They must come reliably and frequently. Too often in the past, this has not been the case. UTA is proposing new rapid bus service along main corridors, such as 3500 South, with busses coming quickly and often. They are moving away from the winding neighborhood routes and more toward large arteries. They are installing high-tech GPS equipment that will allow system operators to know exactly where each bus is and when they are expected at the next stop.

If all works well, UTA hopes to increase bus ridership by 12 percent over three years. In other words, they still would be 4 percent below where they were 10 years ago.

That would be a start, but we hope for much greater improvement in the future, especially as gas and oil prices continue to rise.