Michael P. says:

Tammi makes some good points.

In 1996, before ramping up for TRAX, the bus system had a good growth rate and most of the valley had fair to good bus service, with Salt Lake and the U of U having A- transit service.
Now, Salt Lake and the U of U have A+ transit bus and rail service, but over a third of the valley has dropped to F or F+ bus service, with UTA's FastBus routes in the suburbs that only serve work trips to downtown and the U of U.
UTA has cut over 2,000 bus stops and dozens of routes, mostly in the suburbs. In the TRAX EIS, UTA promised a big jump in the number of bus routes and the number of bus stops in the Sandy-Draper area. Surprise! That's not what they have given us.
In Draper and Sandy, there only a dozen bus stops in a 14 square-mile area. The one bus route here runs only six times in each direction to those stops that are nearly a mile apart. It carries less than 25 people a day each way.
Now UTA wants to replace its worst SL-County bus route with a TRAX line that will cost over $1/2 billion.
Sandy and Draper really need the Highland Drive extension out to Bangerter for less than the cost of this ditsy TRAX line.

This is poor planning.
This is irrational.
This is foolishly wasteful, especially now.

Scott says:

A close look should be taken at the efficiency of road construction projects.
e.g. - The project at 106th So. and State which ended last year had that intersection under construction from ~Oct/Nov 2006 through ~Feb/Mar of 2008! I drive through there every day on my way to/from work. Some areas of the road sat coned off, empty, with no holes or construction going on for several weeks at a stretch. Anyone with minimal project management skills should be able to dramatically improve this situation. I am afraid this is typical for many construction projects and the cost is immense.

Tammi D. says:

UTA is trying to get other "ENTITIES" more involved in Public Transportation for the Disabled and the Elderly. With the Economy is very likely Property Taxes would be Increased and Services for the Disabled and the Elderly would be cut. These ENTITIES would be Responsible for Drivers, Gas, Maintenance and the Purchase of more Vehicles in order to meet all the needs. UTA has Good Bus Service in Down Town Salt Lake City, in the Avenues and the University of Utah. UTA has Destroyed the Bus System in the rest of Salt Lake County. UTA needs to get Accessible Vans and Small Buses to go into Neighborhoods to Help Encourage People to take the Bus would take Individuals to the Main Bus Routes and Trax. UTA needs to work on Barrier Free, Benches and also Increase the Frequency of Buses. This would reduce the need for Paratransit and bring down the cost of Paratransit. This would be Transportation for all. A Good Bus System does not bring in Huge Bonuses for the High Paid Executives.

dmitch says:

I agree with Jon N, I drive commercialy and most buses and trains I see are empty. The UTA is a money pit. Same goes for UDOT, much scrutiny needs to be applied.

Jon N says:

I would say the buses (that the state of Utah helps to fund) driving around with no one on them a collosal waste (not only money wise but pollution wise too). There are a few things that can be done to help with the problem.
First we could cut back on the services for the buses that don't normally carry anybody around to once every hour, or even less if possible. Second, we could start purchasing smaller buses. Third, (now this is for the long term view) we could implement a "smart" system where the route varies depending whoever signs up to ride. You could automate this by having people sign up online and, of course, you would have to have a call in service for those w/o internet. This would take a year or two to develop but it would definitely be worth while, I imagine there would be less pollution and less financial waste once it is all said and done.
I write this because I had to take the bus the other day to go pick up my car at the mechanic and the bus driver said that noone ever rode on this route during the time of day I took it, what a waste!

Brian N. says:

Hey guys I have a real big tip on waste. Sanpete County and Ephraim City has been working on putting in a $23 million airport. This is airport only has 5 small private airplanes on it and only a handfull fly in and out of this airport. They have no way to sell them selfs on this idea its just a bunch of pork barrel spending they are wanting. UDOT has spent over $5 million on widening highway 89 between Manti and Ephraim for this airport project.

Ron C. says:

Quit wasting money on the Holiday Free Parking campaign. Those big bows are pretty but very expensive and the cost to install them isn't cheap either. Just announce that there will be free parking during December and if people aren't listening and put money in the meter . . . so be it. Their stupidity can be money in the tax payer's pocket!

Matt S. says:

The State of Utah get's ripped off when it comes to hiring companies to construct highways. How often do you see 10 guys standing around highway construction with a mouth-full of chaw, staring at one guy doing some work? Unbelievable! There needs to be an independent auditing firm awarded a contract to watch these people and make sure we aren't wasting millions of taxpayers dollars on all of these unecessary workers who are probably just family members of the contractor that was awarded the job!!!

J J says:

The office staff at Granite School District Transportaion. Has free catered steak luncheons. While making the rest of the employees pay for special events. tell me their not something wrong with this picture.

Brad says:

The vast majority of the new road projects are a huge waste of taxpayer funds. I-15 expansion in Utah County, Vinyard Connector, Pioneer Crossing, Mountainview Corridor, and many others are all examples of little foresight and a lot of rutted thinking. These roads will lead to continues sprawl, increased travel times, increased congestion over time, increased air pollution, and less friendly communities. They provide no options for seniors or other disadvantaged people. When will we begin providing transportation options instead of the same old solution that has been proven over and over not to work? Where is the equal investment in transit and other transportation infrastructure?

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