Salt Lake Transit News Thread

[Orlando]

FYI

WHAT DOES YOUR TRANSPORTATION FUTURE LOOK LIKE?

 

Come find out at a Wasatch Front Regional Council

 

SALT LAKE COUNTY OPEN HOUSE

 

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Salt Lake County Government Center

North Building Atrium

2001 South State Street, Salt Lake City

3:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. 

 

Information will be available and the public will be invited to comment on:

 
•The Draft 2015-2040 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP)
•An amendment to the current 2011-2040 RTP
•The Draft Public Involvement Policy
•The Draft Title VI and limited English proficiency plans

  

The open house is sponsored by the Wasatch Front Regional Council and will display information on the proposed plan updates and amendment as noted above.  Representatives from UDOT and UTA will also be present to discuss current highway and transit projects.

 

You may also view the draft plans, projects and proposed amendments at www.wfrc.org.   Send comments to the Regional Council at [email protected] or at (801) 363-4250.

[Stenar]

Originally Posted by i-215

Not just SLC, of course.



At least the SLC one is at the same place as the Frontrunner station, and not a block away like this one.

Does Amtrak even have a train that comes to SLC now? It seems like I heard they did. When I rode it to Chicago a while back, you had to take a bus to Ogden and then get on the train.

[Hatman]

After researching what the plans are for a future Salt Lake Central terminal building may look like, I found this from two years ago:

http://utasupportdocs.com/pdfs/SaltLakeCentralStationDraftEA_AwaitingFTAApproval.pdf

The gist is that the parking lot by the plaza will be filled in with a 120,000 sq-ft, 4-story tall terminal building, which will be shared by Trax, Bus, FrontRunner, and Amtrak. This building will suposedly be funded by UTA and RDA, and will include office space and retail. Enough retail, they claim, to significantly increase ridership.

This is cool and all, but I want something bigger and more iconic than a 4 story office building for Salt Lake's new major train station. After all, if we cannot have the UP or Rio Grande depots, then surely we should be getting somethig even BETTER, right? At least as grand and iconic as the city library... get rid of that unused circle drop off zone and give the building a BIG footprint to work with. Offices and height are fine, but give lots of space to the public for a waiting room, lots of retail, and of course restrooms and the basic amenities.

Speaking of the old UP Depot, I know one of the consulting engineers who worked on site identification for the the Intermodal Hub - he's now a professor down at the Y. According to him, the UP Depot was always the #1 choice for a centra hub, but two things killed that idea:
1) No direct southbound right-of-way
2) Amtrak

The problem with the UP depot is that the tracks going south went right down the middle of 400 west. I believe they are still there in some places. There was no way FrontRunner could ever use tracks in the middle of the street, so the plan was to turn the UP depot into the UP terminal - meaning make all station tracks stub tracks. All Southbound Commuter Trains would have to make a sharp lefthand turn 180 degrees out to the current right-of-way just past 600 west. This meant that all commuter trains would be either north or south trains - no through trains like we have today. Also, it means that commuter trains would potentially need to wait for freight trains, because that junction (called 'Grant's Tower' to railroad people (the unused tower is still there behind the gateway, if you're interested)) is a very busy juction for transcontinental frieight trains.

As designs progressed, Amtrak, which was also to share in the station, suddenly informed the design team that the station tracks would need to be at least 1,400 feet long, because at that time Amtrak was hauling boxcars of express mail on the back of their trains (they no longer do because it never made them any profit). Anyway, there was no way any of the tracks could have been extended to that length, and with Amtrak threatening to pull out the Depot idea was scrapped.

Central Station today allows run-through commuter trains on their own dedicated tracks and a very fast walking connection with TRAX, neither of which the old UP depot would have allowed. It is a magnificent station, and I'm glad it is preserved, but the new Central Station could potentially be so much better. Let's just hope that City and UTA planners dare to dream big.

Oh, and since the picture of the Provo Amshack popped up, here is a terrible link to an original study to use that location for the Provo FrontRunner station. This is from way back in 2000, when planners assumed FrontRunner would run on UP tracks instead of its own. (Note also the Amshack was not yet constructed at that time - the site had only a portable bus-shelter on it).
Hopefully this shows that they did the right thing by building a huge new intermodal center where they did, and not where the former Rio Grande station was (Amshack still is).

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/99806117/PROVO-INTERMODAL-CENTER

Again, I appologize for the poor quality of the link, but it's the only place I could find this document. If anyone has a better link to it, please post!

[goldcntry]

Originally Posted by Stenar

Does Amtrak even have a train that comes to SLC now? It seems like I heard they did. When I rode it to Chicago a while back, you had to take a bus to Ogden and then get on the train.

Amtrak rolls through twice every day... well, technically overnight, but you get my drift. We use the train regularly. Last year alone we used it for five trips to California and back. We pick up the west-bound train around 11PM and usually roll into Sacramento about 3PM. When returning to SLC, we board around 10AM there and get back here about 3 or 4 the following morning. Not the greatest times, but it is a very relaxing way to travel to the old homestead and back. The train is also popular with BYU/UVU students who don't have vehicle transportation as a cheap way to travel back home to northern California.

[brankrom]

For years Amtrak used the Rio Grande station as the terminal.

I think the chances of a functional terminal being built at central station is about zero, the EIS report notwithstanding, and honestly with the state of Amtrak and its position as a middle of the night afterthought in SLC. I can understand there are other priorities. Still though it seems SLC should be able to do better than a 20 year old trailer.

There's a whole lot of potential in The Depot district... funny that one of things that is lacking is an actual depot.

[brankrom]

Just a heads up the Hive Pass is now available. I picked mine up yesterday at the City County building. While I was there 8 people signed up, and the person processing the paperwork said there has been a consistent flow since the launch on Monday. I hope other cities get their act together and offer something like this.

[Scraperdude801]

Originally Posted by brankrom

Just a heads up the Hive Pass is now available. I picked mine up yesterday at the City County building. While I was there 8 people signed up, and the person processing the paperwork said there has been a consistent flow since the launch on Monday. I hope other cities get their act together and offer something like this.

Me too! I live out in the Fireclay District in Murray now and have been super jealous since the Hive Pass was announced.

[stayinginformed]

Originally Posted by brankrom

Just a heads up the Hive Pass is now available. I picked mine up yesterday at the City County building. While I was there 8 people signed up, and the person processing the paperwork said there has been a consistent flow since the launch on Monday. I hope other cities get their act together and offer something like this.

I went with my wife on Saturday to get a Hive Pass, and we waited in line for 2 and a half hours to get her pass. The event ran from 10-3 PM. They said that people started lining up at 9 AM. We got there at about 11, and by the time we got the pass at 1:30, the line was still about 2.5 hours long. I hope they hit that magic 6000 number to make the pass viable going forward.

[Makid]

From what I have heard about the wait times over the weekend and this week, I do feel that they are close to hitting the magic 6,000 number.

I do hope that they put out a number bought in day 1, week 1 and month 1, quarter and year.

Mostly, I am hoping it does so much better than anticipated that UTA will be quick to partner with other Cities, and Counties to offer this to more people.

I do think though that the price may increase depending on locations. For example, the current price could extend south to Murray and North to 2600 South in Bountiful. Next tier could be for another $20.00 and would extend to SL County line, Davis County line. Next would be another $20.00 and include Weber County and Utah County.

That would put the max cost at roughly $400 a year for a pass.

I think that if this type of tier level were available for the pass, UTA could put Frontrunner, Trax, Street Car and Bus fare at a flat $1.50 per trip, replace the Free Fare Zone with a $0.25 fare which could go to support the homeless facilities and ridership would be phenomenal. They may actual triple riders instead of double them in the next 6 years.

[Scraperdude801]

Originally Posted by Makid

From what I have heard about the wait times over the weekend and this week, I do feel that they are close to hitting the magic 6,000 number.

I do hope that they put out a number bought in day 1, week 1 and month 1, quarter and year.

Mostly, I am hoping it does so much better than anticipated that UTA will be quick to partner with other Cities, and Counties to offer this to more people.

I do think though that the price may increase depending on locations. For example, the current price could extend south to Murray and North to 2600 South in Bountiful. Next tier could be for another $20.00 and would extend to SL County line, Davis County line. Next would be another $20.00 and include Weber County and Utah County.

That would put the max cost at roughly $400 a year for a pass.

I think that if this type of tier level were available for the pass, UTA could put Frontrunner, Trax, Street Car and Bus fare at a flat $1.50 per trip, replace the Free Fare Zone with a $0.25 fare which could go to support the homeless facilities and ridership would be phenomenal. They may actual triple riders instead of double them in the next 6 years.

I like your ideas

[brankrom]

Here's a linky to the draft regional transportation plan:

http://wfrc.org/publications/2015_2040_RTP/Preferred_Scenario_Transit_Network.pdf

and an interactive map here:

http://wfrcgis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/OneP...l?appid=dc81f9e5e9444983a790c76ee4ba146a

Originally Posted by Orlando

FYI

WHAT DOES YOUR TRANSPORTATION FUTURE LOOK LIKE?

 

Come find out at a Wasatch Front Regional Council

 

SALT LAKE COUNTY OPEN HOUSE

 

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Salt Lake County Government Center

North Building Atrium

2001 South State Street, Salt Lake City

3:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. 

 

Information will be available and the public will be invited to comment on:

 
•The Draft 2015-2040 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP)
•An amendment to the current 2011-2040 RTP
•The Draft Public Involvement Policy
•The Draft Title VI and limited English proficiency plans

  

The open house is sponsored by the Wasatch Front Regional Council and will display information on the proposed plan updates and amendment as noted above.  Representatives from UDOT and UTA will also be present to discuss current highway and transit projects.

 

You may also view the draft plans, projects and proposed amendments at www.wfrc.org.   Send comments to the Regional Council at [email protected] or at (801) 363-4250.

[jedikermit]

Some friends and I were whining about how horrible UTA's transit maps are on Twitter, and @rideuta hopped in and said "they're currently being revised," but they don't have a timetable about when all that should happen. Pretty sure we've heard that before. But ew.

[StevenF]

Originally Posted by jedikermit

Some friends and I were whining about how horrible UTA's transit maps are on Twitter, and @rideuta hopped in and said "they're currently being revised," but they don't have a timetable about when all that should happen. Pretty sure we've heard that before. But ew.

We should just direct them to the ones done here and save them 99% of there time.

[jedikermit]

I've done that. They won't.

[wong21fr]

Originally Posted by UTvision

This is still under construction. It looks like the white canopy covers the outer platforms, and on the left side, near the middle of the picture, they've added a glass roof extending from the white pergola. It probably will be covered from the weather, once its completed.

This is a big criticism of the design of the oculus and the platform coverings. Everyone assumed that the design would include some sort of covering on the steel canopies and it became apparent that the only platform that would receive any kind of cover was Amtrak's. I'm hoping that this issue is corrected in the very near future as commuters start to complain, but that won't happen until 2016 when the first of the commuter rail lines being operating.

It was an incredibly stupid design choice.

[slc801]

An update on the HIVE pass: according to the mayor's office, as of Wednesday around 500 passes have been sold. This might be a lower amount than some of you were expecting but this is about where I thought it would be. I waited for 3 hours in line on Saturday and I was one of the last 20 or so that purchased a pass. When I asked the workers how many passes they sold on that initial day, they told me around 200, despite it looking like more people were at the library to purchase passes. I think it is a good start and I hope that people continue to purchase them.

http://www.kutv.com/news/top-stories/stories/vid_10008.shtml

Sales of a new UTA ride pass are off to a good start. The new Hive Pass saves regular riders a lot of money, but only a select group can get their hands on it.

The Hive Pass lets people ride any of UTA's systems for less than a dollar a day. Right now, only Salt Lake City residents can get the deal. That has some people frustrated, but UTA says it's working on it.

The Salt Lake City Hive Pass allows people who live in SLC to purchase a pass for $350 or $30 installments per month.

That's all-access for about what a rider would spend on six round trips per month.

A savings the city hopes will help cut cars on the road and pollution in the air, but some critics have argued expanding the pass outside of Salt Lake would bring bigger benefits.

UTA says the program is new and the agency will have to see how it works with Salt Lake City in order to determine if expanding makes sense.

Salt Lake City is handling administration of the pass and it's yet to be determined if the program will be successful.

Salt Lake City just started sales of the pass this past weekend and the mayor's office says as of Wednesday, it's sold 500 passes.

[scottharding]

This is pretty cool, both for salt lake and the country...

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/world/57659202-68/ridership-public-transit-transportation.html.csp

[CountyLemonade]

I was just gonna report on this. Here are the latest APTA 2013 Q4 ridership report numbers:

TRAX — 68,100 (up 6.7% since last quarter, 10.4% from 2012 Q4)
FrontRunner — 14,700 (up 5.8% since last quarter, 70.6% from 2012 Q4)
Bus — 72,200 (up 7.5% since last quarter, down 8.38% from 2012 Q4)

Overall fantastic news.

[brankrom]

Originally Posted by slc801

An update on the HIVE pass: according to the mayor's office, as of Wednesday around 500 passes have been sold. This might be a lower amount than some of you were expecting but this is about where I thought it would be. I waited for 3 hours in line on Saturday and I was one of the last 20 or so that purchased a pass. When I asked the workers how many passes they sold on that initial day, they told me around 200, despite it looking like more people were at the library to purchase passes. I think it is a good start and I hope that people continue to purchase them.

http://www.kutv.com/news/top-stories/stories/vid_10008.shtml

I was in and out in <30 minutes at the city county building. The city needs more advertising, hopefully some info in the water bills will get it moving. I'll tell you one thing, there's no way I would have hung out for 3 hours and that could have kept the numbers low. That's a huge inefficiency. Meeting 10% in 3 days is pretty good.

To pick a few nits with the KUTV story:

[CountyLemonade]

Pretty neat to see this Atlantic Cities article with TRAX used as the lead photo:

The Numbers Behind America's Mass Transit Resurgence


...
But of course, this growing preference for subways and buses hasn't come out of nowhere: it's come hand-in-hand with investment in public transportation. Transit systems with the biggest increases in ridership are, unsurprisingly, those that have found new ways to offer their services. For example, Miami’s rail system saw a 10.6 percent increase in passenger trips, largely due to increased frequency of trains during peak service. New Orleans’ streetcar system, which just added a new line in January 2013, saw a 28.9 percent jump. Salt Lake City’s commuter rail system saw a whopping 103.3 percent increase in ridership, thanks to a new rail line that opened in December 2012.

Cool.