Why turning UTA over to UDOT is a bad idea.

UTA Gillig Advantage 0114 on route 217
Originally uploaded by jmdspk

Some in the Bus Riders Union (clearly from their rhetoric they are not a transit riders union), apparently think that turning control of the UTA over to UDOT would be the greatest thing since sliced cheese. So would the state running UTA be such a good thing?

First of all lets remember that almost all state dept. of transportation units started off as department of highways but had their name changed to show that they are more than highways. However most DOT's are still dominated by highway hard liners who have no love of transit of any kind.

Not only would the Utah State Highway Department be running UTA under the Bus Riders Union dream, but that would mean our state legislature would have more control over the funds. Lets remember that our state legislature has clearly shown they are very anti-transit and would love nothing more than to transfer those funds to highway projects.

In essence you would have someone from Bluff, Utah deciding how transit funds would be spent in Salt Lake City. How were do you think the guy from Bluff would want money spent, on some bus line in Salt Lake City that only the 'transit dependent' ride or on a highway project near Bluff that would help him or her get reelected?

Now lets take a look at some of the few examples of were a state controls transit funding and operations.

First of all, lets take a look at New Jersey. While New Jersey has an extensive bus and rail network things are all not well in the state. The head of New Jersey transit is the person who is politically connected not the best person for the job. This creates a situation were some projects are develop in such a way that is best for those who are politically connected than the actual people using the service.

Now I know that our friends at the bus riders union hate John Inglish, but what can of person do you think our state legislature would put into the job? Do you really think it would be the best person for the job or will it be some politically connected hack who could care less about the riders?

Another state that runs the transit systems is Maryland who provides transit service in Baltimore. Bus service in Baltimore is poor and it is hard to move about the area. A couple of years ago I was attending a conference in Baltimore and found it nearly impossible to find a motel that I could stay in that would have transit service to downtown.

In addition the transit agencies funding is at the mercy of state government who cut transit funding for a period of years but increased highway spending. This led to less transit service for the 'transit dependent' because of things being controlled by politics. This past session the Maryland legislature passed a fare box recovery requirement for transit in the state. This is one of the those feel good bills that sounds great to create more responsible spending but has unintended consequences.

To put it into perspective lets say that UTA is giving over to UDOT and this same bill passes our legislature and is signed by the governor. What would happen to transit service? Well guess what, TRAX and Frontrunner would still be around because they would meet the fare box recovery target but 99% of ALL bus service would be gone, history, dead. As pointed out, the bus system does not do well when it comes to fare box recovery especially compared to rail. The bus riders union would have been directly responsible for death of most transit service to the 'transit dependent' due to unintended consequences.

Turning UTA over will not give more bus service to the 'transit dependent'. What it will do is make UTA funding political and at the whims of a hostile state legislature who rather see roads funded that buses to the 'transit dependent'.

IF the bus riders union truly cares about the so called 'transit dependent', maybe they should start fighting against some of are auto centric development policies, decisions and subsidies that create a situation that people are forced into housing that is not convenient to transit due to lack of good choices.

John Inglish Article

Northbound TRAX train
Originally uploaded by jmdspk

Mass Transit Magazine has an feature article on John Inglish. Inglish brags about how great the so called Bus Rapid Transit that is replacing regular service on 3500 South will be.

Thank You to Orphan Road out of Seattle for referring to this article.

Transit Related Articles...

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Those wasted capital resources start getting there 4 months of work.

Man jumps in front of TRAX; no passengers hurt

You have to feel sorry for the operator of the train as it is something that you will never get over.

Murray celebrates its new development

Lets hope the city of Murray does a better job with this development than they did with the development along 5300 South.

UTA chief has routinely failed

Looks like Drew Chamberlain has crawled from underneath the rock that he should go back under. Lets see, TRAX ridership is not down 30%, and Commuter Rail will provide congestion relief to anyone who uses it just like TRAX. Since he is also trying to get Inglish fired I wonder if he will make a deal with the devil like his buddy Rubin did in Los Angeles and support the Bus Riders Union.

UTA Board Makeup

There has been lots of talk lately of changing the make up of the UTA board of directors. Most of this talk is coming from politicians do not like John Inglish making the amount of the money that he is currently making.

Most of this talk is not coming from politicians who want to improve transit, most of the talk is coming from either anti-transit zealot politicians who are too caught up in their political dogma to see reality or they are out for power.

However the truth is there is no transit system that is run directly by politicians that is better off than UTA, in fact most transit systems run by the politicians are usually in worst shape than the UTA.

To give an example of a system run directly by the politicians is the Spokane Transit Authority better known as the STA. Most the of the time the politicians just rubber stamp what the planners have to say since they truly have no idea what is needed on the system since most of them would not lower themselves to ride it. To make matters worst most of the people on the board are only part time. This means they work a full time job, have their regular city council or county commissioner duties, and the STA board along with several others. Is it any wonder that STA does not get the proper attention?

However, that is not saying that the UTA board is much better because generally the board is made up of politically connected hacks who are appointed by the politicians. They also would not lower themselves to actually ride the bus, so they do not truly know what is happening on the system and could care less.

What is really needed is better rider representation on the board. Why not require that one of the board members be a regular transit rider so that the other side of the coin is giving? The ridership of the transit system needs better representation on the board and at the UTA. Instead of changing UTA for the worst, lets change it for the better.