Reader comments
Keep transit as priority

I think it is fair to revote on the priorities for the funding because of the math error. Local leaders should have a list before them that accurately represents the results of the formula.

When they vote again, our local leaders must remember that the origin for this tax was a push for transit funding. While the county has many transportation needs, the purpose of this tax increase was to fund new TRAX lines.

I am not at all concerned that light rail and commuter rail are inefficient. People want rail.

If government had elected to stay out of the transportation business (except for local streets) we would still have private sector rail passenger options in the form of extensive electric interurban systems. Funding TRAX is a way of getting back what we've lost because of government's abandonment of the market.

If we're going to get off the oil, as the President of the U.S. has stated in a number of speeches, as our dependence on foreign oil has compromised our national and economic security, then transit, rail projects at the local level is part of the solution.

We can look at building TRAX as a part of the War on Terror and protecting our country for future generations which dependency on foreign oil will compromise.

As the Interstate System was originally a defense project, the building of alternative transportation systems is now part of preserving our national and economic security.

Perhaps a new slogan, build a mile of track, or ride a mile of track saves soldiers' lives.

Why? It reduces our dependency on foreign oil and we can eventually be economically divorced from the Middle East, once and for all.

How about that as a new slant on patriotism and support our troops?

Has anyone stopped to think why we need to build expensive infrastructure like TRAX lines when buses not only will do the same job, but are more flexible in their routing? At one time SLC had the old trolley system, but it was removed. Why? All TRAX has done for the area I live in is to reduce public transit service - no trax lines and discontinued bus routes. Face it. The money used to build these rail lines could be used much better elsewhere. And building the lines because Washington divvied out some pork is not justifiable.

Voters approved the tax increase because we were promised it would fund expanded mass transit, NOT another freeway.

Pork Barrel> The trolly lines were removed from SLC due to the Federal Government work programs. They wanted to remove the tracks to increase the number of cars being made by american car companies as this would increase the workers at the plants and at the site of the rail removal.

Even with the current trax lines and the 4 proposed/commuter rail lines, we will only be at roughly 60% of the rail that we had in SLC for public transportation prior to 1940.

We need more rail now. A doubling of what has been approved would be a start. Bus service would be seen to increase as more area would be covered by rail, the existing bus service would be able to be routed to the unserviced areas. This will save energy, time and money in the long run.

Pork Barrel, I will point out the fatal flaw in your argument. Busses are inherintly less efficient than rail for 3 reasons, first they run on diesel, which is less efficient the electric motors and more expensive, second, rail requires less labor to operate (one train can easily carry a few hundred people, while a bus can only hold a few dozen, you can have more people per driver, less labor cost), and third busses are stuck in the same traffic as everyone else... if busses were just as fast it would take the same amount of time to take the bus from 5400 south and downtown as trax... guess what, it takes longer on the bus. Oh, and cut service is a result of poor management, not TRAX.

Fantastic article. I voted for the transit increase because it would fund rails and mass transit, not another freeway. I use mass transit regularly because of my own beliefs about big oil, global terrorism, and environmental stewardship. We have long known that the Utah legislature is out of touch. If not for a minor statistical error, they would have found something else to justify this attempt at money grabbing...

No, Sorry TRAX was NOT the reason bus lines were rerouted. Bus lines are ALWAYS subject to rerouting, for any reason whatsoever.
Rail is not. Rail is stable. You can count on rail being where it is built, for a long time.
Buses will not do the same job as rail.
Can you even conceive that buses would have moved the Olympics attendees?
And Bus Rapid Transit is a joke. Those buses won't average much faster than cars, over time.

Makid, Thanks for the explanation on the trolley track removal. Still, you say we need more rail, but really didn't say why. There might be some savings in energy, but not in time, and certainly not in money. Buses can cover the entire metro area without the huge expenditures and disruption of rail construction.

Mike, You did not support your premise with any facts that expanded TRAX will bring great savings in fuel and labor. I doubt there would be much, if any, savings in either. And yes, buses (correct spelling of the plural of bus) are stuck in the same traffic, but they don't block traffic and cause grisly deaths like light rail does.

Check out the Orange line in L.A. The busses the the BRT line run at an average of 22 mph. The Redline, the subway run at 70 mph.

It's faster to drive the same distance than to use the Orange line.

Also consider that TRAX is carrying 14 million passengers a year. The entire UTA bus system in 5 counties is only carrying 21 million. Clearly TRAX works.