The rest of UTA's funds come from other sources — 9 percent comes from fares, advertising revenue, property sales and other areas. Bond debt is about 37 percent of the budget.

Utah Transportation Commissioner Kent Millington says UTA's hefty local tax subsidy affects more people than it benefits.

"I think it's a shame that we're subsidizing something so heavily so the more upper-middle class in Sandy can have a $1 ride to downtown (Salt Lake City) when the less-affluent people in West Valley have to rely on their vehicles anyway," Millington said. "We're subsidizing people who can actually afford (to pay more), and we're not even providing the service to areas where the people have the greatest need."

Although Millington complains that UTA's east/west transportation services are sparse and inconvenient, UTA spokesman Chad Saley says the organization plans to spend 70 percent of its budget this year on rail construction and other capital projects.

"We really are putting our energies into expanding the system," Saley said. "We are doing what in essence the voters all told us they wanted to do."

There are several reasons why UTA has some fans. Transit wins big when you look at the cost to operate and maintain a car versus the cost of a train ticket.

UTA contends if it didn't receive subsidies, passengers would have to pay up to $7 for a one-way ride, or about 48 cents a mile. That fare would not allow the agency to expand service or build any new rail projects, Saley said.

From an environmental standpoint, transit supporters say the cost of discontinuing transit subsidies would have a large impact on public health. Discontinuing the subsidies also could hurt Utah's ability to build roads or transit.

In seven years, Utah will need to have a plan to deal with tighter federal air-quality restrictions for small particulates known as PM2.5, according to the state Department of Environmental Quality. Motor vehicles are one of the biggest producers of this particulate, and if nothing is done to curb vehicle use, the state will likely fail to meet the standards, said spokeswoman Donna Spangler.

Failure could mean big federal fines and an end to federal subsidies for roads and transit.

"It's a no-brainer that mass transit has got to be a big part of the solution," Spangler said. "Because the majority of the pollution comes from vehicles, we are going to have to look to encourage more people to take mass transit."

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E-mail: nwarburton@desnews.com, achoate@desnews.com