Be Heard - Sign The Petition
Historically, the State of Utah does not fund public transit and, when it does, they are one-time funds for projects such as light rail and FrontRunner (this was the case in 2023 to double-track FrontRunner, for example).
Even in these situations, transit agencies are often required to take on debts to complete the projects the state approves, making it harder for these agencies to expand and maintain other forms of service such as bus routes.
The state has not provided support for day-to-day transit operations. This is despite the fact that more than 6 out of every 10 Utahns live in a community currently serviced by one of Utah’s seven transit districts.
Add your name to the growing number of Utahns calling upon the state legislature to commit a portion of Utah’s annual budget specifically towards ongoing support of Utah’s seven public transit systems.
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The Vision - Transit: Imagined
Transit: Imagined asks a simple question: what if 2.1 million Utahns, stretching from Logan to Nephi and from Tooele to Heber, lived, worked, and played within a 10-minute walk to a bus, BRT, light rail, and/or commuter rail line? What if everyone had access to, at minimum, 15-minute service from 6 AM to 8 PM, 20-minute service from 8 PM to midnight, and 30-minute service from midnight to 6 AM? What if this service was available 365 days a year?
To learn more about Transit: Imagined, click here.
True Representation - The 7-Day Challenge
Hundreds of thousands of Utahns use transit every day, and each rider has their own reason for doing so. Some simply don’t like driving and worrying about parking, others may want to save on gas and keep the air a little cleaner, and, for others, it may be the only option they have to access schools, shops, hospitals, and jobs.
UTRU feels that the policymakers should use the systems the people of Utah rely upon every day and that the best way to understand the various transit systems their constituents use is to use it. That is why we are calling on decision-makers at the local, county, and state level to participate in the 7-day challenge.
UTRU will teach these willing volunteers how to use transit within their communities and ask them to then use their local systems for 7 days.
Once the week has passed, we will ask them to provide their feedback on the system their constituents use daily. What worked, what didn’t, and what they think they can do to help build a system that works better for the current and future riders.
During these discussions we will also include the benefits of a robust transit system for everyone, not just the transit riders themselves: increased economic activity, connecting employers with a larger pool of employees, cities that are more efficient with their land use and tax dollars, families and individuals who can spend less of their hard-earned money overall on transportation, reductions in traffic, road maintenance costs, and air pollution, and communities safer to walk, bike, and drive in, just to name a few.
The challenge for policymakers will start on May 20th and we will keep you up to date on who has agreed to participate and what they have to say.
Policymakers who have agreed to participate:
Amy Anderson – City Council Member, Logan
Christine Anderson – Planing Commission Chair, American Fork
Nate Blouin – Senator, Senate District 13
Tish Buroker – City Council Member, Riverton
Kelly Bush – Mayor, Kearns
Mike Christensen – Planning Commission Chair, Salt Lake City
Bill Ciraco – City Council Member, Park City
Rosabela Dominguez – City Council Member, Murray
Gage Froerer – Weber County Comissioner
John Frontero – Planning Commissioner, Park City
Brett Garner – Representative, House District 31
Joey Hansen – Planning Commissioner, Farmington
Cody Hill – Economic Development Manager, Midvale
Trish Hull – City Council Member, Kearns
Adam Hock – City Council Member, Murray
Jon Larsen – Transportation Director, Salt Lake City
Dannielle Larkin – City Council Member, St. George
Karl McMillan – City Council Member, Heber
Laura Suesser – Planning Commissioner, Park City
Sarah Young – City Council Member, Salt Lake City
Get Involved - Take the Pledge!
We want to encourage everyone to participate in the 7-Day challenge!
If you are new to using transit, welcome! Thank you for being willing to try something that might be new and outside of your comfort zone. We understand that you may not be familiar with using transit, and that’s okay!
UTRU is happy to either provide direct training on how to use your local transit systems or connect you with approved travel trainers.
We also understand that transit may not be easy to access from where you live, work, and play. That’s okay too. Though the goal of the 7-Day challenge is to start and end all trips using active transportation (walking, biking, etc.) and transit, we know that this might be difficult in some areas. So, if you can’t use transit for all of your trips, we ask that you try to use transit as best you can during the challenge.
Need to drive to a park-and-ride to start your trip? You can take the bus to work, but need to get a ride back? You have to take 2 trips to the grocery store in a week instead of one? It’s all okay. All we ask is that you try your best…but we also ask that you think about what could be improved to make transit more useful to both you and your community and what it might take to make those improvements happen.