Deseret News | UTA to add 25¢ surcharge

Reader comments
UTA to add 25¢ surcharge

The UTA is not for the poor! | 12:41 a.m. May 29, 2008

"...the fuel surcharge could limit accessibility for low-income individuals and the disabled because they are often living on fixed incomes and could be priced out of public transportation."

Whatever it may have originally been intended to do, the UTA is not running in such a way as to benefit the poor, the elderly, the disabled or the working class.

I live and work near 5600 West and multiple buses run past my house, yet there is no route that can get me to and from work. Fellow employees often walk or ride bicycles because the UTA is not interested in serving them.

I used the UTA website to plan trip from my home to my parents' home due east in Cottonwood Heights. It would have taken 4.5 5o 6 hours to arrive. I could walk there faster.

The UTA is all about running their toy railroads and reducing the need for parking at the U.

If you work odd shifts, don't want to go downtown or just need to get around the south and west sides of the valley then all the UTA has to say to you is: Take A Hike!

This is Fair | 6:02 a.m. May 29, 2008

Oil prices don't care if your well off or not. Everybody is taking a hit here. There are those who would complain and take us to socialism.

Impoverished | 6:09 a.m. May 29, 2008

Of course UTA is not for the poor. Does the money come from the poor? UTA can only serve one master, and that sure ain't the poor.

Comments continue below

Eliminate UTA | 6:23 a.m. May 29, 2008

UTA is proud of the fact that their customers spend more money for each trip than they would spend buying gas to go the same distance. Aren't you glad we are giving them $200 million in sales tax money every year?

The Utah Legislature should fold them into UDOT and then contract the service to a private firm that understands basic economics. Right now UTA is not responsible to taxpayers or customers so they gleefully take advantage of both.

Anonymous | 6:43 a.m. May 29, 2008

$0.25? That's it? The riders should be shouldering a bigger share of the cost. Gas is up $1.80/gallon and fares barely change.

Dollar Per Mile | 7:01 a.m. May 29, 2008

On January 1 it will cost $2.50 each way to get to work on the bus. That means many people will be paying a dollar per mile for UTA's wonderful bus service. Does your car only get one mile for each dollar?

UTA does not want customers.

Con Sumer | 7:33 a.m. May 29, 2008

I have a beef with the semantics here. Everybody's doing it these days, airlines, trucking outfits, etc.
They're adding 'fees' and 'surcharges' and 'riders'.
Cut the nonsense. If you're the customer you can call it apple pie if you want, but a price increase is a price increase. Stop dancing around it. I don't even mind, we all know fuel is more expensive. But stop telling us the price of a given service hasn't gone up, just the surcharges. When we buy a plane ticket, tell us how much it costs, not that the ticket is cheap but we need to chip in for gas.

Tammi Diaz | 7:36 a.m. May 29, 2008

Voters Voted for a Improvement in the Transit System
not the Destruction of Bus System! UTA has a Good Bus System Down Town Salt Lake City and in the Avenues, also up at the University of Utah. The East and West Side of Salt Lake City and the rest Salt Lake County the Bus System has been Destroy. Every time UTA raises Fares it Reduces Ridership, the Fuel Surcharge is more Destruction of the Bus System. Please HELP UDOT!

RE: Dollar Per Mile | 7:58 a.m. May 29, 2008

I ride Trax for 17 miles. At $2.50 per ride for 17 miles, the cost is actually $.147 per mile. Unless I'm missing something, or only riding the bus really short distances, your math doesn't add up.

SLC gal | 8:08 a.m. May 29, 2008

I wonder how much longer it will be before I can no longer afford to get to work.... Thanks UTA for making us pay some of the highest prices for public transportation in the US. I haven't fully researched this, but I'm sure we do.

People W/Disability | 8:11 a.m. May 29, 2008

Wow, what a weird people commenting on this board so far. The first person above does have some concern for those fixed income elderly and disable do have some concern. People with disability will get the shaft and ready to rrrrooooooooottttttt away soon. I live in a area where they took away my fix route and paratransit keep saying we have to abide the ADA Law that if no fixed service is available within 3/4 miles - "YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN". You are on your own getting to nearest to fixed route then para transit will serve you. Mailman can do this but those fixed or erdlerly and disable people has every right to worry. Is this a free country? Well in some way for a lot of those people but us "NO". UTA need to get rid of this ADA LAW. PERIOD!

More Riders | 8:20 a.m. May 29, 2008

I don't know if anyone else has noticed this but I have and that is that the number of riders has gone UP with the gas prices. With more riders taking trax and buses I see them already getting more money without the increase therefore this surcharge that they are going to get for the reason they claim "to help pay for the increases in gas prices" is wrong and I see the people who sit on their duffs in the offices of UTA lining their pockets with the money. They are getting this money from the surcharge as well the many new riders.

UT County | 8:50 a.m. May 29, 2008

If UTA had more routes that take Utah county riders to trax, I believe they would get more riders. It costs me about $6 a day to work in Sandy. My office is next door to a trax station, but to use UTA I would have to take a bus South to Provo, transfer to a bus to go north to the UTA trax station and add an hour each way to my commute. Or I can catch a bus near my home that takes the freeway all the way to downtown SLC and then catch trax back to Sandy. Those are my choices. So I drive in a car all by myself.

Remind me | 9:04 a.m. May 29, 2008

Somebody remind me: Why are Trax fares going up? Trax runs on electricity - the cost of operating Trax is completely independent of the cost of oil/gas/diesel. That's one of the attractive things about Trax - its cost isn't subject to the world oil market......so what does UTA do? They up the price because of high oil prices!

I've said it before and I'll say it again: UTA just doesn't get it.

RE: UT County | 9:12 a.m. May 29, 2008

Have you tried the 811 bus with service with stops in Provo, Orem, American Fork, and Lehi. It runs quite frequently - especially during rush hour times.

Dollar Per Mile | 9:17 a.m. May 29, 2008

On January 1 you will pay $5 round trip for UTA even if you travel only 1/4 mile so I guess there could be people who would pay $10 per mile riding UTA. Someone who rides from Rose Park to the University of Utah for a part time job will pay just under $1 per mile-- because part timers do not qualify for the super discount rate that the professors get of $4 per month. Even someone who travels 10 miles each way will need a car with below average gas mileage to pay less to ride than they would pay for fuel to drive the same distance.

UTA charges much higher than market value for their service. That reduces ridership at increases the tax subsidy per rider. I don't know why conservatives in this state don't understand basic economics but the conservatives that control the UTA Board of Trustees obviously need some training.

Rider | 9:23 a.m. May 29, 2008

UT County: I just looked at the UTA web site. There is a Utah Valley/ TRAX Connector. It takes just under one hour to get from 20 East 200 South in Provo to the Sandy TRAX station. There you are.
I ride the fast bus from the Valley Fair Mall to the Univ. of Utah. The other day we figured we are saving about $7 a day not driving. Believe me, I have my issues with UTA, but I make it work because it saves me money and it saves me from road rage and just idiot drivers.
It is amazing the people who advocate eliminating UTA and privitizing the system. O.K. if you think you can do it cheaper then go for it; people will flock to your system. Good luck.

prices | 9:27 a.m. May 29, 2008

I did a little research of bus systems around the country and here is what it costs per ride in other cities:
Seattle - $1.75
Denver - $1.75
Phoenix - $1.25
Albuquerque - $1.00
Kansas City - $1.25
Atlanta - $1.75
Columbia, SC - $1.50
Boston - $1.70

I don't know how many are "upping" their fares as that info is usually pretty crypic on the websites, but this should give everyone something to compare.

starting when? | 9:36 a.m. May 29, 2008

Am I blind or did this reporter fail to tell us when these changes take effect? I'd like to know so I can plan.

Lining their pockets? | 9:52 a.m. May 29, 2008

UTA officials are not making money off of this surcharge. Even as subsidized as it is, UTA still cannot cover its costs. It may not be pretty, but a fuel surcharge is necessary. It is NOT going to line the pockets of UTA officials. What a joke.

Also, public transportation is never going to be as convenient as driving yourself. Get over it. Walk a little more, bike a little more, and complain a little less. I commute every day from Provo to SLC, don't own a car, and am able to run errands just fine using the buses. It takes a little extra planning and time, but it's worth it in the money I save on gas, insurance, car maintenance, and car ownership. Do I have to walk a few blocks extra? Yes. But buses were never designed to be door-to-door service.

And no, it is not the government's job to take care of us. We pay some of the lowest prices for gas, period.

Re: Eliminate UTA | 9:53 a.m. May 29, 2008

When you say UDOT should "contract service to a private firm that understands basic economics," what on earth do you mean by that? Do you mean a firm that would charge $15 for a bus ticket so that the transit system wouldn't be constantly operating at a heavily-taxpayer-subsidized deficit because fares are so low? Or a firm that would lower fares so everyone could afford to ride even though the amount of people who are realistically priced out of using public transportation by a 25-50 cent swing is minimal. You wouldn't get so many more riders at a lower fare that you'd more than cover your lost per-ticket revenue. Most people will never use public transit at any (or no) cost.

Our problem is that many right-wing legislators would prefer the model where there's no subsidy for transit and it covers its expenses out of ticket sales without extra sales taxes. So then you're back to the $15 bus ticket. UTA has to try to straddle the center line between low income advocates who want a free system and certain legislators who thinks it should pay for itself. I think they do a pretty good job of that.

RE: Lining their pockets | 10:32 a.m. May 29, 2008

Are you kidding? How is taking home more than $300K a year by John Inglish not lining one's pocket? That is twice as much as what the Governor makes and is one of the highest for any transit organization in the nation.

Tired of UTA | 10:39 a.m. May 29, 2008

Here is a little extra information on bus prices. Try our neighbors to the north in Cache Valley. They don't use UTA's services. They formed their own Cache Valley Transit District. Guess how much they pay for each trip. That's right- NOTHING! The CVTD system is free, and from what I see, it is based on a 1/2 percent sales tax collection. Granted, theirs is a smaller system, but with all the sales tax we collect for UTA in Salt Lake, Tooele, Davis, Weber and Utah counties, we should be able to manage this.

Eliminate UTA | 11:05 a.m. May 29, 2008

Other cities have contracted out their bus service to private firms and have lower prices and higher ridership than UTA does. Privatization is not always bad for consumers.

UTA's Board is primarily a bunch of Republican Party insiders who are largely hostile to transit and transit riders. That is why they raise prices any time it looks like more people might start using transit. Why do you think the chair of the conservative caucus in the state legislature got himself appointed? The editor of this newspaper, Joe Cannon, used to be simultaneously on the UTA Board and chair of the state Republican Party.

Craig | 11:08 a.m. May 29, 2008

If you want to reduce transportation costs move closer to where you work. Nobody owes you a free ride.

GCF | 11:18 a.m. May 29, 2008

UTA for all the hype is an operational farce...it has not been profitable from the start...is and has been a government-subsidized, public-draining, cost-inefficient "service" from its inception. It is not enough that it forces local governments (i.e., Davis County Commission to vote in an additional sales tax levy that a majority of citizens of the county voted against), but now her comes a save-our-bacon and our executive salaries with a "surcharge." Surge charges have a way of becoming permanent once everyone gets used to them. I agree with the others...TURN IT OVER TO A PRIVATE BUSINESS SO IT CAN BE RUN EFFICIENTLY!

Jenny | 11:42 a.m. May 29, 2008

I thought I heard on a news report that all UTA busses have been converted to "Natural Gas." If this is the case, how can gasoline prices be the reason for the fare hike? This doesn't make sense to me.

UT County | 12:30 p.m. May 29, 2008

How did I miss 811 when I was looking before. Thanks.

Tammi Diaz | 1:16 p.m. May 29, 2008

UTA is GOAL is the ELIMINATION of the Bus System, turn it over to other ENTITIES TO Transportation of the Disabled and the Elderly, it likely Property Taxes would be Increase. Let's turn over to UDOT and
the ENTITIES, so the Sale Tax can go to UDOT and the others ENTITIES the Rest of the REVENUE. John Inglish Salary is $266,614 Bonus $39,526 Other Incentives $60,526 Total $100,386, there 9 more High Paid Executives that receive Huge Salaries and Huge Bonuses, all at Tax Payer Expense. PLEASE HELP UDOT! UTA does not CARE!

jmdspk | 2:29 p.m. May 29, 2008

To eliminate UTA: If contracting is so wonderful why don't you go ride some of the contracted routes in Los Angeles in 105 degree weather with no a/c because they don't want to spend the money to fix it. Or in Denver were duct tape will be holding up important pieces of the bus.

To Tammy: Once again your wrong. IF you turn UTA over to UDOT you and the bus riders union will be responsible for the real destruction of the bus system because the legislature will just give the money to the highways just like the Governor of California is doing right now.

Del | 4:06 p.m. May 29, 2008

Can someone please tell me which "privatized" bus company is going to be able to pay LESS for fuel?

Tammi Diaz | 7:16 p.m. May 29, 2008

Every Time UTA Increases the Fares and Cuts Service it Reduces Ridership, that what UTA has been doing for 10 Years, the Bus System is alot Worse now. UTA only Cares about Bus System Down Town Salt Lake City, the Aveunes and up to the University of Utah, UTA has Destroy the Bus System in the Rest of Salt Lake County. With Fuel Surcharge it will be more Destruction of the Bus System. UTA GOAL to ELIMINATE more of the Bus System. PLEASE HELP UDOT! UTA does not CARE!

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