The Utah Transit Authority (UTA) is a special service district responsible for providing public transportation throughout the Wasatch Front of Utah, in the United States, which includes the metropolitan areas of Ogden, Park City, Provo, Salt Lake City and Tooele.
UTA is headquartered in Salt Lake City with operations and garages in locations throughout the Wasatch Front, including Ogden, Midvale and Orem.
NSL had bought out and promptly decommissioned the electric trolleys operated by the Utah Light and Traction Company in Salt Lake City neighborhoods like the Avenues in the 1940s.
[5] Today, the UTA's service area is over 1,400 square miles (3,600 km2) and covers seven counties: Box Elder, Davis, Salt Lake, Summit, Tooele, Utah, and Weber.
Four bus routes to Granger, Hunter (which today comprise West Valley City), Kearns, Magna, and Tooele were also created the same year.
[5] Since the turn of the century, the entire service area of UTA has seen bus route redesigns, beginning with Utah County in 2000.
The largest and most comprehensive change in routing occurred in August 2007 in Salt Lake County, with the goal of increasing ridership by twelve percent.
[12] The opening of two new TRAX extensions exacerbated bus route service cuts, especially in the western side of the valley; routes that previously traveled from the western suburbs to downtown would end at Green Line stations, with riders expected to complete the rest of their journeys via the Green Line.
[14] As UTA's rail expansion projects draw to a close and revenues increase, the agency has indicated that it will slowly begin restoring service in the near future.
The line opened in August 2018 and uses 60-foot articulated buses with doors on both sides of the bus to load passengers from busway stations located in the center median.
[18] UTA previously operated the 3500 South MAX line between Magna and the Millcreek TRAX station via West Valley City.
UTA has three bus routes that run trolley-replica buses, the 601, 628, and 667, which serve Ogden, Midtown (Clearfield/Layton) and Farmington (Lagoon amusement park), respectively.
In addition to the transit centers, UTA offers customer service by telephone for extended business hours Monday through Saturday.
Population growth and accompanying congestion led to the study of the feasibility of light rail in the Salt Lake Valley in the early 1990s.
Nonetheless, UTA's cost-effective light rail project merited the support of the Federal Transit Administration and would have been funded and constructed regardless of the Olympics.
Construction was expedited to be completed before the 2002 Winter Olympics, to enable spectators to take TRAX to the opening ceremonies at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
[23] In 2002, UTA announced a deal with Union Pacific to purchase a segment of track and right-of-way for a commuter rail line from Salt Lake City to Pleasant View, just northwest of Ogden.
Construction on the FrontRunner corridor began on August 10, 2005; seven stations opened running from Ogden to Salt Lake City on April 26, 2008.
The S-Line runs along the old Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad (D&RGW) line (which lies between 2100 South and the I-80 freeway) from the Central Pointe TRAX Station in South Salt Lake east to McClelland Street (1040 East) in Salt Lake City.
Future plans (Phase 2) include extending the line to run further north through Sugar House, but funding for the extension has not yet been secured.
In addition to the S-Line, several other areas in and around Salt Lake City are being evaluated for similar streetcar lines, but no specific projects have been announced so far.
Unless an urgent need arises, such as when a fairly major adjustment to resolve connections with the FrontRunner was made in February 2013,[34] UTA generally limits Change Days to the middle part of April, August, and December each year.
Many are operated by UTA in conjunction with its TRAX and FrontRunner stations or other transit centers, but others are maintained by the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT).
Ticket machines at all FrontRunner, MAX, TRAX and S-Line stations accept cash and major debit and credit cards.
TRAX stations within the zone include Arena, City Center, Courthouse, Gallivan Plaza, Planetarium, and Temple Square.
Its current total fare of US$2.25 was tied for fifth-highest among 193 transit systems nationally that responded to an American Public Transportation Association survey completed last August.
[U 14] UTA is governed by a 3-member Board of Trustees that continually directs agency staff to improve public transit along the Wasatch Front.
Board members work with their appointing local representatives to direct UTA so the agency can best meet the needs of individual communities.
[52] UTA also revised its compensation policy on May 19, 2015, to bring those who are earning less than those in similar job functions at other transit organizations in line with the industry standards.
Just prior to the opening of the Draper extension in August 2013, UTA announced that the FrontLines 2015 project had been completed under budget and years ahead of schedule.