After 13 years of paying $2.50 to ride a local Utah Transit Authority bus or train, commuters may see a fare increase to $3 next year. But first, UTA officials say they want to hear their feedback.
“This would help offset the increased costs that have happened over 13 years,” said Gavin Gustafson, senior public information officer at UTA. “I can’t think of anything that hasn’t gone up over the past 13 years, and so it helps to offset the cost of, say, operating maintenance and expanding the transit service as well.”
The fare increase is something the authority has held off for as long as possible, Gustafson said. However, the costs to keep the service running has gone substantially up in the last decade.
“It’s not terribly significant,” Gustafson said. “It does help with the day-to-day cost, but we’ve built out quite an expansive system over the past 10 to 15 years, and so there’s a significant amount of debt, of course, that comes with that.”
In addition to the fare increase, UTA is proposing other service changes for 2027, including an expansion to the S-Line that connects to Sugar House and a tool to make contactless payments easier for occasional riders. These proposals aren’t final yet, and Utahns are invited to voice their opinion during a public comment period from Aug. 10 through Sept. 9.
Let us know what you think...
The authority is also constructing a new station at Highland Drive and Simpson Avenue, as well as another one in the Sugar House business district, near the University of Utah health center.
While a contactless form of payment is already available with FAREPAY cards, UTA is also studying allowing a tap-to-pay system for regular credit and debit cards.
The authority hasn’t set a specific date in which these changes may take place. However, they are penciled in for next year, Gustafson said.
“We encourage everyone to review the proposed changes and share their feedback through the proper channels,” he said. “As valuable as it is to receive feedback online and through Facebook comments, for example, it doesn’t go into the official public record. Those kinds of things are not necessarily tracked and categorized and logged.”
UTA will host a virtual public meeting on Aug. 26 at 5:30 p.m. to present an overview of the proposed updates and to answer some questions. Registration is available at thislink.
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism
that is degrading to another person. Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness
accounts, the history behind an article.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.