All Aboard 

Between 1870 and 1880, the population of New York City crossed 1 million. That same decade saw the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge (it opened in 1883) and the proliferation of elevated trains, revolutionizing the ability of the average person to move about in a city that until then relied on ferries and horse-drawn buses.

The so-called "Greatest City in the World" would ultimately move the bulk of its commuter rail network underground while absorbing 1 million new residents each decade(!) during the first half of the 20th century. Today, the cultural reliance on those Gilded Age bridges, tunnels and mass transit routes not only continues, it is a defining element of a New Yorker's lived experience.

Now, consider Salt Lake County, which crossed 1 million residents around 2008 and which is projected to add another half-million souls over the next 40 years. Around the Point of the Mountain, Utah County is projected to add a million new residents over the same period. While that growth is a far cry from the scale of 19th-century New York, there are lessons to be learned about anticipating, and preparing for, demographic trends.

"You think about the congestion going north-south along I-15 right now," Rep. Mike Schultz, the No. 2 Republican in the Utah House, said recently. "We know we cannot widen I-15 enough to meet the demands of population growth 10 to 20 years from now."

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• “Nobody wants to be stuck in traffic.” Rep. Mike Schultz

As boring as "transportation infrastructure" sounds, government decisions around the movement of people shape the course of lives—collectively and individually—in astonishing ways. And, according to virtually every demographic expert, Utah's cities of tomorrow will be crowded.

Schultz, R-Hooper, told City Weekly that Utah is reaching the point where mass transit must play a larger role in the state—to improve air quality along the Wasatch Front as well as maintain overall quality of life.

"Nobody wants to be stuck in traffic," he said.

To that end, lawmakers are considering legislation this year that would bring state-funded "fixed guideway" (commuter rail, bus rapid transit, etc.) transit construction under the purview of the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT), which traditionally has focused—almost exclusively—on maximizing the efficiency of car travel.

When the bill, HB322, first appeared in early February, it sparked a round of trepidation from SLC's transit twitterati. After all, the last few rounds of big, state-directed development haven't exactly gone smoothly for the capital city (see: inland port taxing authority and board representation, site selection for the new state prison, virtually anything having to do with homelessness) and UDOT, to date, has shown little appetite for ceding car territory to alternate modes of travel.

But Jon Larsen, Salt Lake City's transportation director, was enthusiastic about the proposal. He said the bill makes formal a growing consensus around transit needs (anecdotal stories abound of UDOT executive director Carlos Braceras sounding the alarm on public transportation). And Larsen noted that UDOT brings with it a war chest of $600 million or more, annually, and a track record of delivering on big, complicated construction projects.

"It sounds like a lot of money—and it is—but transportation is really expensive," Larsen said. "It is really cool and really exciting that the state is stepping in and spending transportation money on public transportation. The [Transportation Investment Fund] was created almost 20 years ago—it's a big pot of money and historically, it has gone to highway expansion."

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• Carl Arky Utah Transit Authority spokesman

Brotherly Love
Utah Transit Authority spokesman Carl Arky said that UTA supports the legislation, with the expectation that it will facilitate the expansion of transit in the state. But he was careful not to cash any checks that haven't been written by lawmakers yet.

"We'll all have to go down the road together and see how it ends up," he said.

Arky said that UDOT and UTA have a relationship of mutual respect—not every state's highway and transit equivalents can say the same—and that both agencies work in their spheres to improve Utah's transportation systems. It's common sense, he said, to bring those spheres together and increase the oversight—and potentially buy-in—of lawmakers over mass transit.

"If we want to be corny and cliche, it does take a village to create this baby," Arky said. "Everybody's just trying to find the best way to get the job done."

The 2002 Olympic Games catalyzed the state's last major evolution in public transportation, with the construction of TRAX in Salt Lake County and FrontRunner along the Wasatch Front (roughly parallel to the north-south-running Interstate 15 corridor). And in very recent years, UTA has modernized its bus service, adding rapid transit lines in Utah, Davis and Weber counties and high-frequency routes and on-demand services in Salt Lake City.

The city government has also partnered with UTA on several free fare initiatives, like event tickets and airport boarding passes doubling as a transit ticket and, currently, free services systemwide for the entire month of February.

More indicative of Utah's strategy over the last two decades are the road projects overseen by UDOT, most notably the multiple rounds of I-15 expansion, the steady freeway-ification of Bangerter Highway and Highway 89 and the creation of new auxiliary interstates like the Legacy Parkway and the Mountain View Corridor, which is designed to be upgraded to an express highway in the future.

UDOT's domain also extends along state-owned surface streets that cut through Utah's cities—large roadways like 700 East (SR-71), 3300 South (SR-171), 9000/9400 South (SR-209) and too many others to name.

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• HB322 sponsor Rep. Kay Christofferson

HB322 sponsor Rep. Kay Christofferson, R-Lehi, said it makes sense to have one department coordinate all of the state's transportation activities. UTA knows how to run the buses and trains but UDOT, he said, knows how to get things built.

"They know the construction, they know the contracting, they've got the contacts," Christofferson told City Weekly. "They can get it done a lot easier and UTA will still do the [transit] operations."

UDOT representatives declined to participate in an interview for this article, but department spokesman John Gleason responded to emailed questions. He said the department has worked closely with UTA and other metropolitan planning organizations on non-road projects, like the pedestrian bridge to Utah Valley University spanning I-15 and a new FrontRunner station in Vineyard (which cost roughly $17 million). And it has not been determined whether any organizational changes will occur within UDOT if HB322 passes, Gleason said.

"Utah's population is growing every day, and this means we need a comprehensive transportation system that provides safe, effective choices for all users," Gleason said. "Our state's leaders continue to make significant investments in improving and promoting all modes of transportation, including transit. We will continue to work with the governor, Legislature and our partners at UTA in planning and preparing for Utah's future."

Schultz noted that Utah's transit network has many areas where service stops short of a potential rider's destination. He suggested that some of those so-called "last mile" gaps might have been mitigated under HB322.

"Bringing that authority under one roof going forward, so that we don't have UTA doing one thing and UDOT doing one thing, so that it's being managed holistically for all modes of transportation, is going to save the taxpayers of this state literally billions of dollars," Schultz said.

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• A FrontRunner train arrives at the North Temple Station alongside the recently constructed Folsom Trail in Salt Lake City.

Larsen, of the city's transportation department, credited lawmakers for broadly showing political support for investing in transit (every House member signed onto HB322 as a co-sponsor). Other states have seen transit devolve into partisan squabbles but in Utah, he said, "we get it."

He said UDOT could face a learning curve, as it hasn't traditionally focused on things like commuter rail (the double-tracking of FrontRunner, already funded in part by the Legislature, will be first on the docket if HB322 passes). But he didn't expect any change in direction on anticipated projects, like the long-planned expansion of the S-Line streetcar ("putting the head on the snake," Larsen said) or new TRAX connections on 400 West and 400 South.

"We're all pulling in the same direction, trying to get the same thing done and figuring out how best to do it," Larsen said. "We're like siblings. We fight it out sometimes, but at the end of the day, we're all team Utah and want to do what's best for transportation."

Down the Track
Double-tracking is already in place along some sections of the FrontRunner line, including the recently constructed Vineyard station that is scheduled to open this spring. But Arky said it's too early to suggest when the entire second track would be completed.

"It's a high-priority project for UTA," he said. "It will make the system much more efficient and reliable and faster. But it's expensive—there's no question about it."

Beyond the double-tracking of FrontRunner, Schultz and Christofferson were reluctant to speculate on the transit projects that would be born of HB322, instead speaking in general terms about the need to expand commuter rail both within and between cities and to expand transportation options perpendicular to the I-15 corridor.

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• “We’re like siblings. We fight it out sometimes, but at the end of the day, we’re all team Utah.” Jon LarsenSalt Lake City transportation director

"We need to get ahead of these things and figure out how we're going to do east-west [travel] as well," Schultz said.

But Larsen described several transit projects that are indicative of, or could benefit from, greater UDOT involvement. A bus rapid transit line (UTA) connecting Salt Lake and Davis counties along Highway 89 (UDOT) is under consideration, he said, which would link to new transit routes along 200 South after it has been rebuilt with transit-priority lanes (a city project scheduled to begin this year). On the west side, Larsen highlighted the proposed 5600 West rapid transit line, which UDOT and UTA have agreed to launch before the Mountain View Corridor is upgraded to a freeway-style road.

"It's been cool to see UDOT morph and change and really become more multi-modal," Larsen said. "When I started my career, this was unfathomable, that the state would be putting money toward public transportation."

Larsen said he sees the role of the city as largely unchanged—advocating for the best possible transit plans and maintaining a "seat at the table," only now with UDOT reps sitting at that table as well. "I continue to believe that what's good for Salt Lake City is good for the state," Larsen said. "The Legislature is trying to spend more money on public transportation, which we support."

Whatever state spending is diverted to transit is unlikely to include making UTA fares free beyond February, at least for now. When asked if the Legislature had received any preliminary ridership numbers, Schultz was adamant that transit should carry a cost for the user.

"Somebody is paying for it, so is free fare really free?" Schultz said. "I believe those that ride [public] transportation should help bear some of the cost of that ridership."

Arky said that compared to the first week of January, the first week of February with free fares saw a roughly 15% increase in ridership. He said UTA will collect more comprehensive numbers, which could help in system planning.

"That [increase] is promising but I don't think that we can draw any conclusions from that yet," he said. "There's still the rest of the month to go."