Utah Transit Authority Explores Bad-Air, Free-Ride Days
By Judy Fahys, The Salt Lake Tribune
Dec. 30–Utah air-quality officials approached the Utah Transit Authority a few years ago with a proposition: What about luring people out of their cars on high-pollution air days by free bus and light-rail rides.
The idea was a non-starter for UTA.
“We simply said we don’t have the capacity,” UTA spokesman Justin Jones said Thursday.
The transit system of buses and light-rail does have the capacity on certain routes at certain times of the day, Jones said, but UTA does not want riders turned off by crowding expected during peak travel times, especially as the system expands.
But the idea might soon have new traction.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is considering new air-pollution standards that, if enacted, will put new pressure on the Wasatch Front to find more and better ways to cut pollution. Because many of the obvious actions already have been taken, air-quality experts expect additional improvements to be incremental — and more costly.
Both UTA and air-quality officials say they are open to again exploring the bad-air-free-fare idea.
“We’d like to see something like that move forward,” said Cheryl Heying of the state Division of Air Quality.
She noted that her agency is always looking for ways to persuade the public to take pollution-reducing measures, such as driving less and promoting mass transit.
Washington, D.C., allows travelers to ride free on high-pollution days. So does Portland, Ore. Even Logan, which has a problem with wintertime pollution, does not charge for rides on its public buses.
If free transit fares in Utah were used to convince travelers to use transit instead of their vehicles, it would help the state avoid a federal crackdown, said Heying
“It’s the difference between telling someone to do something and giving them a mechanism to do it,” she said.
Back when it was first suggested, neither the UTA nor the state Division of Air Quality took the idea of free fares on bad air days very far. There was never a formal proposal. Neither did an in-depth review of how many new riders might be expected or how much free-fare days might cost in dollars or reduced air pollution.
Most years, Utah has about 30 days, in summer and winter combined, when pollution levels approach the current federal limits or exceed them. That means UTA would stand to lose about $6 million in fares a year with a free-fare policy, if you don’t count the 50-odd percent of UTA riders who buy monthly transit passes.
UTA serves all of Salt Lake Davis and Weber counties, as well as parts of Utah, Tooele and Box Elder counties. About 143,000 passengers use the system each day.
But Jones suggested the biggest problem with the free-fare idea might be the transit systems’ popularity. Already, TRAX has more than double the number of riders that planners expected 20 years from now. Squeezing more riders onto UTA buses and trains is likely to draw complaints.
“Our riders would actually have a bad experience.”
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