Salt Lake Transit News Thread

[Future Mayor]

Originally Posted by UTPlanner

If you get a chance check out the information from UTA about new routes. Here is a link to the new TRAX map: http://www.rideuta.com/uploads/traxmap2010.pdf

I'm sure it was a difficult decision and long discussion as to which routes to take to central station and which route is the direct University route. With the frequency of trains stopping at Courthouse, 900 S, 1300 S and 2100 S, particularly 900 and 1300, I really won't be surprised to see a substantial increase in TOD's in those areas, with housing, retail and commercial. It's such a HUGE opportunity for the 900 S area to develop even more than it has and the Ballpark neighborhood is just begging for an infusion of TOD (IMO)

[stayinginformed]

According to the UTA website the new TRAX configuration will run

Weekdays: 15 minute service on weekdays from approximately 5 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Saturday: 20 minute service from approximately 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Sunday: 20 minute service from approximately 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.

So if it is running every 15 minutes from Sandy, West Jordan, and West Valley--does that mean there will be a train every 7 minutes from 6400 S to 2100 S and every 4 minutes from 2100 S to the Courthouse?

[Cirrus]

That's fair, Future Mayor. I'm just curious what SLC Projects thinks since he went out of his way to quote you after we'd finished our qualifying discussion.

[SLCdude]

Originally Posted by stayinginformed

According to the UTA website the new TRAX configuration will run

Weekdays: 15 minute service on weekdays from approximately 5 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Saturday: 20 minute service from approximately 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Sunday: 20 minute service from approximately 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.

So if it is running every 15 minutes from Sandy, West Jordan, and West Valley--does that mean there will be a train every 7 minutes from 6400 S to 2100 S and every 4 minutes from 2100 S to the Courthouse?

Trains will stop running after 11PM?!?! That's earlier than it is already. If Salt Lake City wants to encourage a nightlife downtown, trains need to run later. Portland's Blue line runs for more than 22 hours a day from 3:37 AM to 2:02 AM and San Francisco has buses that run all night long. My friends and I were once stranded downtown because TRAX and bus service stopped before midnight. We walked all the way to the University from Main Street. It would be very nice to have trains run for another hour or two even with 30 minute train frequency.

[jtrent77]

Originally Posted by SLCdude

Trains will stop running after 11PM?!?! That's earlier than it is already. If Salt Lake City wants to encourage a nightlife downtown, trains need to run later. Portland's Blue line runs for more than 22 hours a day from 3:37 AM to 2:02 AM and San Francisco has buses that run all night long. My friends and I were once stranded downtown because TRAX and bus service stopped before midnight. We walked all the way to the University from Main Street. It would be very nice to have trains run for another hour or two even with 30 minute train frequency.

DC has the second largest subway system in the nation (after NYC); all of our trains stop at midnight on weekdays and 3AM on weekends (which because of the huge budget shortfall and all the work that needs to be done they are proposing cutting everything back to to midnight).

So, while I agree with the points you make, I wouldn't hold your breath too much.

[farmerboy]

I wonder what the additional cost is of running even 1 train on each route from 12p-2am. Running on the hour. I can't imagine the cost is too ridiculous and would accomodate a lot of people who are downtown on the weekends.

2 Drivers for 2 Hours. (One Sandy, One University)
Cost of running 2 trains for 2 hours.

Anyone know what the approximate cost would be?...

Also I work on Sunday am, it is very inconvenient that trains don't start running until 9am when I have to be to work at 7am.

[Future Mayor]

I would expect that in the next few years the trains will run until 2, at least on the hour. As gas prices increase, and the city center becomes more and more vibrant with night life and as the overall population of the valley grows I would expect that the demand will dictate it. I could see Sandy and University running or maybe a Sandy and Univ/airport hybrid, depending on flight times.

I am assuming the airport line will either run to Univ or to Central Station. Do we know which yet?

[RC14]

I will be very disapointed if TRAX no longer goes between Salt Lake Central and the University of Utah.
I guess they might not have the vehicles or the funds to run both the UofU-Downtown and UofU/Mid Jorden trains but I think it would make more since to encourage TODs between SLCentral and the University then between 900 and 2100 South. Granted, there is more available land down there.
Oh well, I guess I'll just hope the Airport Line is a direct line to the University.

[Cirrus]

Running really infrequent trains late at night would be a much more plausible scenario along a light rail line than in a subway like in DC.

In a subway there are huge costs in keeping stations open that go far beyond the cost of simply running trains. That's one advantage of light rail; you can run a random train in the middle of the night without it really costing you anything more than the cost of that one train.

[s.p.hansen]

I'm just putting this out there now because I believe this could affect Utah transportation in some interesting ways in the future.

Speed Is Key for Railroads, Ports in 'Post-Panamax' Era
http://www.cnbc.com/id/41785168/page/2/

Nearly 100 years ago, the Panama Canal hosted its first passage, a watershed event that has influenced the landscape of shipping and transportation ever since. Now, the canal is due to rattle international trade once more, potentially reshaping the way sea-borne shipping and rail lines tackle business in the world’s largest consumer nation.

A massive, $5 billion-plus expansion of the canal looks on track to wrap in 2014, just in time for the waterway's centennial. The expansion will allow the passage of larger, so-called “Post-Panamax” vessels that can haul roughly double the cargo of ships that currently fit the canal.

Importantly, the expansion will also give ship lines around the world, particularly those with massive container ships, yet another route for moving goods to the United States.

For corporations moving goods to the U.S., the often cheaper option of shipping through the canal could prove too good to pass up.

Burlington Northern serves all container ports on the West Coast and the Texas Gulf Coast. Close ties with ports like Los Angeles and Long Beach, a pair which accommodated more than 40 percent of all twenty-foot container units (TEUs) imported into the United States in 2009, will support the railway post-expansion, Lanigan said.

“Obviously our interest is in freights…that don’t come through the Panama Canal,” he said. “We’re ready to compete from movements that want to go all-water.”

“All-water” routes call directly to the U.S. East Coast, skipping West Coast ports and the cross-country intermodal system composed of trucks and railways like BNSF. Fraught with oversupply, container lines around the world have been offering dirt-cheap rates. This has led to an interesting conundrum for shippers weighing the costs of moving goods to critical centers like Chicago and New York.

Christian Wetherbee, a senior transportation analyst for Citigroup, notes that rates for container ships have fallen “significantly,” while “rail rates have gone nothing but up.”

From CNBC.com
http://www.cnbc.com/id/41785168/page/2/


One of the major concerns for the State of Utah has been freight congestion via Trucks and Trains. If North America successfully enters a Post Panamax sized ship era we may be seeing the concern shift over to freight by rail having to become more competitive.

[UTPlanner]

I have heard rumors that the Airport line will run to Draper. It was only a rumor though it was from a UTA employee. I hope that they have it run east to west from the University to the Airport.

[Future Mayor]

I can't really see why they would have two lines run all the way south to Draper, which would make four lines running between courthouse and 2100 S. Somehow I doubt that.

Wouldn't logic just have the blue line extend south?

[SLCdude]

I think the University Line and Airport Line should be merged into one single line. This would be especially great because people can commute to the SLC via Frontrunner and transfer onto the University Line on the at the viaduct station. If people are already spending up to an hour on FrontRunner to get to Salt Lake City, they should be able to take TRAX straight to the University rather than having to transfer twice.

[s.p.hansen]

Originally Posted by SLCdude

I think the University Line and Airport Line should be merged into one single line. This would be especially great because people can commute to the SLC via Frontrunner and transfer onto the University Line on the at the viaduct station. If people are already spending up to an hour on FrontRunner to get to Salt Lake City, they should be able to take TRAX straight to the University rather than having to transfer twice.

I agree 100%

[farmerboy]

Also Agree! This would be awesome, also would create 7 minute service on University Line, which would be greatly appreciated!

[s.p.hansen]

The Davis County Clipper

UTA draws national visitors looking to learn from agency

Over the past several years, Utah Transit Authority has played host to a number of transit agencies and municipalities from throughout the nation and beyond, all looking to see what UTA is doing right.

Recently, Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Fla., visited Utah to look at the FrontRunner commuter rail line.

Later this month, a larger delegation from the Orlando area will be hosted by the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce, Envision Utah and the Economic Development Corporation of Utah and UTA to check out our system in more depth.

Read more: Davis County Clipper - UTA draws national visitors looking to learn from agency

Rep. Brown was interested in the way UTA has linked its transportation system to major employment centers and institutions like medical centers, said UTA Public Relations Specialist Brandon Bott.

Among other delegations have been representatives of Phoenix and Mesa Ariz., Pittsburgh, Penn., St. Paul, Minn., Seattle, Wash., Waterloo, Ontario, Boise, Idaho, and Henderson, Nev. who have checked out the agency’s FrontRunner and TRAX systems.

“With a lot of them they want to find a way to economically link the community,” Bott said.

Often, he said, those looking at Utah’s transit system have outdated railroad rights-of-way which they can acquire, Bott said, much like UTA used rail lines for FrontRunner and is now using an old spur line to build a light rail line through Sugar House.

Recently U.S. News and World Report named UTA the No. 2 transit agency in the nation, Bott said.

In addition to it being named among the top transit systems in the nation, Bott believes other things that have proved successful in UTA’s story is how well the agency has partnered with other agencies like the Utah Department of Transportation and with area municipalities.

“We’re very proud of the relationship we have with UDOT and local municipalities,” Bott said. “That cooperative atmosphere is rare.”

Another aspect of UTA’s operation which Bott said may contribute to UTA’s popularity with other agencies is that, “We consistently come in on time and under budget, on projects.”

by Melinda Williams

http://www.clippertoday.com/view/full_st...ce=special_coverage_bullets_right_column

[Gotham]

Originally Posted by SLCdude

Trains will stop running after 11PM?!?! That's earlier than it is already. If Salt Lake City wants to encourage a nightlife downtown, trains need to run later. Portland's Blue line runs for more than 22 hours a day from 3:37 AM to 2:02 AM and San Francisco has buses that run all night long. My friends and I were once stranded downtown because TRAX and bus service stopped before midnight. We walked all the way to the University from Main Street. It would be very nice to have trains run for another hour or two even with 30 minute train frequency.

I had almost this exact same experience. My partner and I took his boss and his boss's wife to see a show on Main Street. We could have driven, but I lobbied to take Trax, never suspecting trains would not be running after midnight. We were dressed up and she was in heels. I was very embarrassed.

[Gotham]

Originally Posted by UTPlanner

I have heard rumors that the Airport line will run to Draper. It was only a rumor though it was from a UTA employee. I hope that they have it run east to west from the University to the Airport.

...and then split off and extend up to the ski resorts.

[s.p.hansen]

March Viaduct Update

There was a lot of progress on the West side and very little progress on the East side.





























Old train tracks that have been removed from old concrete as part of an excavation of the road.

[SLCdude]

Thanks for getting out there, S.P. I've been wanting to see the viaduct progress for a while now. I'm anxious to see work progress on the rail and pedestrian side of the bridge.