"It's quite difficult because of the area — there is a lot of low density housing in the southern end of the valley," she said, explaining that fares only pay 16 percent to 17 percent of operation costs but that minimum ridership would be necessary for a new route.

UTA does not know how much a new bus route in the area would cost, but a new bus line on Wasatch Boulevard costs about $1.1 million to operate annually, plus about $400,000 for every new bus, Bohnsack-Ware said. The Wasatch Boulevard line serves about 1,700 people per week on seven buses.

Wasatch Front Regional Council, which manages regional transportation planning, hopes "park-and-ride" lots will be included with the construction of the Mountain View Corridor, which will run along 5600 West. WFRC also hopes bus rapid-transit lines will eventually be added to the southwest cities, but didn't include that in their priority funding list for 2030.

"We are all paying sales tax for UTA," Applegarth said. People in Riverton pay that sales tax, but they don't receive that service."

For more information, visit rideuta.com

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Contributing: Laura Hancock

E-mail: rpalmer@desnews.com