UTA may cut bus routes to stay out of the red

For the budget to be in the black at the end of the year, the Utah Transit Authority is proposing cutting some bus routes.

Express routes 472, 474 and 476 that go through Ogden and Davis County and 522 and 551 in the Salt Lake Valley are on the chopping block. Additionally, UTA may eliminate Saturday service on routes 9, 11 and 17 and cut back some trips on routes 307, 313, 347, 348, 354, 453 and 461.

Routes 62, 232, 248 and 228 may either be eliminated or reduced on Saturdays. On Sundays, routes 39 and 45 may be eliminated. And routes 78, 90, 213, 232, 516, 517, 519, 520, 525 and 556 may be rerouted.

The changes, if approved, will go into effect April 4. Details can be found on UTA's Web site: www.rideuta.com.

The public can comment at the Web site or attend one of four open houses. Their input may save some routes from elimination, UTA spokesman Gerry Carpenter said.

The open houses are:

Layton: Jan. 19, 6:30-8:30 p.m., Layton Public Library, 155 Wasatch Drive.

Ogden: Jan. 20, 6:30-8:30 p.m., Weber County Library, 2464 Jefferson Ave.

Salt Lake City: Jan. 21, 2-5 p.m., City Library Conference Room B, 210 E. 400 South.

South Salt Lake: Jan. 26, 5:30-7:30 p.m., UTA Meadowbrook office, 3600 S. 700 West.

In December, the UTA Board of Trustees approved a $181.8 million operating budget for 2010. However, at the time the budget was adopted, UTA's expenses were about $9 million higher, and the trustees ordered General Manager John Inglish and his staff to continue making cuts so they won't see red by the end of the year.

The service cuts are part of that exercise, Carpenter said.

"Some of the service is either Saturday or Sunday service that's being looked it," he said. "This is service that has very low ridership. In some cases, we're really depending on public comment to determine what our decision will be."

The express routes through Ogden and Davis counties are popular, but the same service is offered by FrontRunner commuter rail, Carpenter said.

"We're still making the cuts all across the agency," he said. "We're looking at every department."

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