Making UTA free would certainly be a silver lining to this awful Corona cloud. Hopefully people's perceptions of transit/being in public spaces with other people returns to how it used to be. It would be seriously awful if the lesson everyone learned from this is 'stay in your own homes in your own cars, and the bus gives you corona'.
I've been refining my Rio Grande Depot plans a bit, thanks to some excellent feedback from this community and others. Here is my latest iteration:
This is a cross-section view looking north on 500 West. The main difference between this and what I originally proposed is that the bus platform is directly above the Amtrak/Intercity platform and tracks, which allows two things:
1) The platforms are now wider, up to at least current FrontRunner platform widths. The Bus plaza is now significantly wider (45 feet) which will reduce crowding and bunching significantly.
2) Assuming FrontRunner and the E-W commuter rail line are electrified, the diesel-powered Amtrak/intercity trains can be confined in a ventilated area. This allows for a glass canopy to be built over the remaining 4 tracks, which would completely enclose that area and make the platforms immune to weather/heat/snow.
3) I've made the entire trench a little deeper than before - this design shows that trains will have 23 feet of vertical clearance. This means that freight trains can also use the Amtrak track, though I imagine this would only be a temporary situation, until the freight tracks can be relocated/grade separated to make way for other developments (see my google map in my sig line).
You'll notice I've drawn 3 overlapping canopies, and this is on purpose. I love the looks of trains under glass canopies, but I wanted to make something distinct for Salt Lake City. Most other train stations do curves:
I drew pointed pyramids, and I drew 3 of them to show that the repeating pyramids would not be in line with each other. Each pyramid should be unique in height and angle, with the intent to emulate the Wasatch mountain range. Also, flat panels are easier to make glass panes for, which will be helpful in keeping costs low.
Again, if you have any feedback/suggestions/fixes/complaints, I'd love to hear them. I am pretty serious about putting together a formal proposal, and I want this to be as strong as it possibly can be before professional eyes see it.