It is the second of several BRT lines that UTA has or is planning in Utah County and the Salt Lake Valley.

[4] UTA had anticipated having the Utah Valley Express operational by the time the Provo and Orem FrontRunner stations opened in the fall of 2012, but by early July 2016 construction on the line had yet to commence.

[7][8] The Utah Valley Express connects with the FrontRunner at both the Provo and Orem intermodal centers (stations).

The FrontRunner also connects with UTA's TRAX light rail system in the Salt Lake Valley[9] as well as Amtrak's (the National Railroad Passenger Corporation) California Zephyr[Note 1][10] (which runs daily between Chicago, Illinois, and the San Francisco Bay Area) and Greyhound inter-city buses.

As the initial route was nearing finalization in early 2013, Brigham Young University announced that it was closing a portion of East Campus Drive.

[14] One of the major considerations for keeping the original route was the strong possibility of losing federal funding, as well as substantial financial support from the Mountainland Association of Governments.

[15][16][17] Other changes that were made later in the process included the stop that was initially planned to be located at about 1100 North 900 East.

In March 2015 the Federal Transit Administration approved the Environmental Assessment submitted by UTA in late 2014 with a "Finding of No Significant Impact.

[20] Service began with a soft opening on August 13, 2018, while the station platforms were being finished and was formally opened on January 9, 2019, with several dignitaries in attendance including BYU President Kevin J. Worthen, Provo mayor Michelle Kaufusi, UVU President Astrid S. Tuminez, Orem mayor Richard Brunst, and mascots Cosmo the Cougar and Willy the Wolverine.

Following a trademark review of the committee's choices, the public was presented, for a vote, with three names: TimpRunner, TimpExpress, or Utah Valley Express.

In Phase II, the northwest end of the Utah Valley Express will be rerouted directly east from the Orem station along West 800 South (instead of south along Geneva Road) and connect with the UVU campus by way of a new high-occupancy/toll (HOT) interchange overpass.

It will then pass by the north and east edges of the UVU campus before reaching University Parkway and continuing along the remainder of its original route.

The Utah Valley Express begins at the Orem Intermodal Center (FrontRunner station), which is located at 900 South 1350 West.

At the end of this very short stretch of Sandhill Road it turns east (through the roundabout) and then heads east on College Drive (on the southern edge of the UVU campus) until it reaches the UVU stop on College Drive and/or West 1200 South.

[Note 2] Since there are no dedicated lanes along this portion of the route, bus turnouts are included for this stop.

Since there are still no dedicated lanes along this portion of the route, bus turnouts were also included for the BYU North Campus stop.

After that stop the Utah Valley Express continues in shared traffic lanes to turn south onto North 900 East and pass by the eastern edge of BYU campus.

Continuing south, still in shared lanes, it reaches the Towne Centre Blvd stop as it passes by the east side of the mall closest to the JC Penney.

Occasionally, buses will head north through the Freedom Boulevard roundabout and turn into Provo Central Station at 750 South.