Salt Lake Transit News Thread

[s.p.hansen]

Originally Posted by Smuttynose1

Here's the rail ridership numbers for Salt Lake City over the last few years in relation to other cities (generally those with comparable ridership figures).



TRAX

Outside of the mid-2008 spike, ridership has been remarkably steady for TRAX, never dipping below 41,000 nor exceeding 48,000. Sacramento and Saint Louis showed fairly consistent declines, while Phoenix has seen a fairly strong growth trend. Dallas had been trending down, but has since spiked with the addition of a new line there. Minneapolis and Baltimore have seen modest growth trends, while Buffalo, San Jose, and Denver (save for a dramatic drop in one quarter) have been fairly level over the span.



FrontRunner

Starting in the first quarter of 2009, the growth trend has been very good for FrontRunner. Dallas and Seattle have generally been trending downward, while Albuquerque and Oakland have seen growth. Oceanside has generally followed the same trend as SLC.

Data from APTA Ridership Reports

About a month ago UTA stated that the average weekday number of TRAX light rail commuters has jumped to 63,000 (this is because the Red Line and Green Line have come into existence)!

[i-215]

Nice to ridership stay steady, despite the flux in gas prices. If a person rides transit to work at $4.25/gallon and still rides to work after it dropped to $1.75/gallon in late 2008, that means they are loyal to transit beyond just cost savings.

[xseven]

Originally Posted by i-215

A freeway TUNNEL under Utah Lake then!

I'll to that!

Now get the funding for the project!

[xseven]

Originally Posted by s.p.hansen

About a month ago UTA stated that the average weekday number of TRAX light rail commuters has jumped to 63,000 (this is because the Red Line and Green Line have come into existence)!

Has this figure been confirmed?

I remember reading daily ridership at around 45,000 on TRAX pre-expansion (West Valley and West/South Jordan).

If 63,000 is the now average, that is huge.

[s.p.hansen]

Originally Posted by xseven

Has this figure been confirmed?

I remember reading daily ridership at around 45,000 on TRAX pre-expansion (West Valley and West/South Jordan).

If 63,000 is the now average, that is huge.

Oh trust me, I'm thrilled that we're barely trailing Denver!
http://www.standard.net/stories/2011/09/11/uta-more-riders-revenue-needed-sunday-service

Originally Posted by s.p.hansen

On a happier note.

UTA has stated that the weekday average ridership on TRAX has reached 63,000.

http://www.standard.net/stories/2011/09/11/uta-more-riders-revenue-needed-sunday-service

[StevenF]

Someone on Facebook posted this and thought it would fit in very nicely on this thread.

[livedowntown]

Originally Posted by StevenF

Someone on Facebook posted this and thought it would fit in very nicely on this thread.

[s.p.hansen]

SL Tribune

Ridership up on new TRAX lines but still below target
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/52681670-90/carpenter-conference-game-months.html.csp



I guess things haven't stayed as high with ridership since that article in the Stand-Examiner came out.

It is possible that we could be having 63,000 riders because of an increase in ridership on the blue line which wouldn't be accounted for in this article.

However, I'm now thinking that we're probably closer to 55,000 riders a week up from 43,000. I guess we'll know for sure when the next APTA report comes out in December.

[(Eco)nomy_404]

Originally Posted by Smuttynose1

Here's the rail ridership numbers for Salt Lake City over the last few years in relation to other cities (generally those with comparable ridership figures).



TRAX

Outside of the mid-2008 spike, ridership has been remarkably steady for TRAX, never dipping below 41,000 nor exceeding 48,000. Sacramento and Saint Louis showed fairly consistent declines, while Phoenix has seen a fairly strong growth trend. Dallas had been trending down, but has since spiked with the addition of a new line there. Minneapolis and Baltimore have seen modest growth trends, while Buffalo, San Jose, and Denver (save for a dramatic drop in one quarter) have been fairly level over the span.



FrontRunner

Starting in the first quarter of 2009, the growth trend has been very good for FrontRunner. Dallas and Seattle have generally been trending downward, while Albuquerque and Oakland have seen growth. Oceanside has generally followed the same trend as SLC.

Data from APTA Ridership Reports

It`s important to note that this graph only goes through Q2 of 2011 (the first half of the year through June). I would bet that with new data from Q3 that just ended a week ago, that line should increase due to the opening of the two new lines in August. I expect to see growth through next year as the airport line opens and in the years to come as future expansions and other mass transit projects integrate into the system. Considering that UTA just about doubled its miles of track in August, that number should shoot up really quick in the weeks and months to come. I wouldn`t doubt that ridership is now up past 60,000. I expect ridership to easily reach 75,000 by late next year or early 2013.

[Old&New]

I wonder what would happen to the graph if you were to take the rail-transit-ridership in each city and divide that by the number of stations on their system.

[arkhitektor]

Originally Posted by Old&New

I wonder what would happen to the graph if you were to take the rail-transit-ridership in each city and divide that by the number of stations on their system.

This list on wikipedia shows ridership per mile:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_light_rail_systems_by_ridership

When sorted by riders per track-mile, UTA ranks 9th among US light rail systems, though it doesn't seem to include the newest lines or their riders.

[chad.farnes]

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/52702274-90/downtown-percent-becker-parking.html.csp?page=1

The Trib had a really good story about downtown. I found one part really interesting, the part about the planned projects. It says, "If streetcars are downtown’s future, Utahns want them now. More than two-thirds (67 percent) list a streetcar system as the city’s top planned project. That is followed by attraction-finding signs (62 percent) and the Utah Performing Arts Center, or mega-theater (52 percent)."

I know the funding for streetcars downtown is a ways off, but at least the public support is there.

[Smuttynose1]

Some good news here...

UTA poised to start work on Sugar House streetcar
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/52712861-90/million-lake-salt-fare.html.csp

By Lee Davidson
The Salt Lake Tribune

"UTA spokesman Gerry Carpenter said the Sugar House streetcar project is expected to break ground in spring and take about a year to complete. He said $19.3 million was budgeted for it, anticipating that UTA, Salt Lake City and South Salt Lake soon can complete an interlocal agreement for it."

and...

"The budget also includes $273 million to continue construction of light-rail extensions to the Salt Lake City International Airport and Draper, along with a FrontRunner commuter rail route from Salt Lake City to Provo.

Carpenter said the two TRAX lines are slated for completion in 2013, and the FrontRunner line is expected to be finished in 2014."

[Reachforthesky]

Does anyone have any photo updates of N. temple? I would love to see some!

[scottharding]

Hell yeah! I can't explain how excited I am for the sugarhouse line and the airport line!!!

Not too excited for the abolishing of the free fair zone downtown.

[chad.farnes]

Tonight there was nothing on TV and I was flipping channels and I just happen to come across the Salt Lake RDA meeting that was held a couple of nights ago. They were talking about the Sugarhouse street car and a possible extension. It was really interesting so I kept in on for a couple of minutes.

The hope is that the Sugarhouse street car is extended, preferably towards Westminster. While the study about the optimal route for it to take is still being conducted, there are a couple of possible solutions. One is to hook a left onto Highland from Sugarmont Drive and head north on 11th east and have it end around 17th south. Another option would be to close the end on Sugarmont Dr. just west of Highland (I'm new to Sugarhouse so I could be wrong but I believe it would be the south side of the granite block) and essentially make a new Sugarmont hook a little to the north and become Willmington (so there would be a four way stop at Wilmington and Highland). The street car would follow the new Willmington, hook north on Highland and end at the same place. The other option would be for it to travel on 21st south out to 17th east (that was my least favorite. I don't think it has as much of a purpose as heading up 11th towards Westminster). The group giving the presentation hadn't decided on the optimal configuration for a possible street car extension, and I believe that they are going to present their findings at the next RDA meeting.

The other really interesting thing that they said they are looking at is the possibility of making the Sugarhouse monument, at Highland and 21st south, a more community centered place. One idea is to close the right turn lane (if you are heading east) and essentially make this area a community pavilion area. Once again, this is something that still needs to be researched and a final conclusion will be presented at a future meeting. However, I thought it was a cool idea and I think that I like it.

[SLCdude]

That's good to hear. There will be an alternatives analysis meeting on October 27th from 5PM to 8PM at the Eccles Helath, Wellness, and Athletic Center (Westminster College). I will be there.

Here's a PDF with more details:

https://legacy.umail.utah.edu/owa/attach...d0=EAAo4p4Giw%2bRTI7hP90e0%2fJe&attcnt=1

Originally Posted by chad.farnes

The other really interesting thing that they said they are looking at is the possibility of making the Sugarhouse monument, at Highland and 21st south, a more community centered place. One idea is to close the right turn lane (if you are heading east) and essentially make this area a community pavilion area. Once again, this is something that still needs to be researched and a final conclusion will be presented at a future meeting. However, I thought it was a cool idea and I think that I like it.

Seems like a great idea to me. That turning lane south of the obelisk is not necessary. All that would be lost would be some on-street parking stalls.

[livedowntown]

During Christmas they put a Santa shack out there on that island. It always seems uncomfortable because it feels like it is in the middle of the street. I like the idea of giving a better "center" to Sugar House and making that turning lane area a small plaza.

Sometimes I miss that turn anyway and end up turning at what would be the normal spot and it functions just fine. I would guess, however, that traffic might back up more with everyone turning there because there wouldn't be the relief lane for right turns.

[(Eco)nomy_404]

Originally Posted by Smuttynose1

Some good news here...

UTA poised to start work on Sugar House streetcar
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/52712861-90/million-lake-salt-fare.html.csp

By Lee Davidson
The Salt Lake Tribune


and...

Wow, its a lot smaller than I thought it would be. The Sugarhouse spur wouldn`t even go two miles. Does anyone know if there are future expansion plans? I think it would be great to make it eventually go up Foothill to the U where it could meet up with the Red Line.

[StevenF]

Originally Posted by (Eco)nomy_404

Wow, its a lot smaller than I thought it would be. The Sugarhouse spur wouldn`t even go two miles. Does anyone know if there are future expansion plans? I think it would be great to make it eventually go up Foothill to the U where it could meet up with the Red Line.

There has been talks of sending it all the way to Westminster College.