Comments about ‘Salt Lake County Council delays vote on commuter-rail, TRAX funds’

The vote needs to happen as soon as possible. Not honoring the committment with UTA may make Utah loose hundreds of millions of Federal tax dollars!

The Federal Transit Administration has agreed to pay UTA for two of the new TRAX lines if UTA pays for the other two new TRAX lines and Commuter Rail South with local funds (those being voted on by the Salt Lake County Council and Utah County Commission).

UTA receives more Federal money for new projects than any other transit agency in the country because Utah has been so progressive with its public transit projects. Each light rail line has been completed under budget and early - something unseen recently in other parts of the country.

If the money for the TRAX lines and commuter rail is reallocated due to presure from some short sighted Utah legislators, we will most likely loose millions in Federal tax dollars!!!!

...The poll, by Dan Jones & Associates, found that 66 percent of Salt Lake County residents wanted the money to go to transit projects, and 65 percent of those said they wanted it to go specifically for four new TRAX lines. That's what they had in mind when they entered voting booths...

Quote from:
Thumbs up to funding mass transit
07/01/2007
By Jay Evensen
Deseret Morning News

UTA needs to restored bus service first.

You want to spend billions of dollars based on a math error and an opinion poll. What a joke. The projects should be ranked in order of cost effectiveness and impact on future congestion, no matter if they are road or transit.