News from Sandy

Image via Wikipedia Theater project in Sandy clears tall hurdle

All this in Sandy's downtown. Oh wait, Sandy does not really have a downtown. Of course this will be several blocks from the TRAX station and the area between the TRAX station and the theater is so pedestrian unfriendly who would want to walk it?

Sandy to rebuild 1300 East

Sandy is going to rebuild 1300 East from 7800 South to 10600 South to help ease the traffic congestion problem.

This points out one of the basic problems with standard suburban development with Sandy being a perfect example. You have many small streets that end in cul de sacs that send of off their residents on to one or two collector streets. All those people are then turned onto the main arterial (in this case 1300 East). That puts all the pressure on the arterials to carry a majority of the traffic which leads to the major traffic problems.

After all, south of Insterstate 215 how many options are there? You have State Street, 700 East, 1300 East or Highland Drive. North of 4500 South you have Main Street, State Street, 300 East, 500 East, 700 East, 900 East, 1300 East and Highland Drive.

Not only does this development focus all traffic on a few arterial streets, it also means that nothing is in walking distance for the residents. No matter what you do you have either a very long walk or have to drive. In addition walking means you are forced onto streets that are not designed for pedestrians and take your life into your own hands walking in.

That also creates a situation that bus service is nearly useless and why it is not economical is now stands to provide standard bus service in those areas. The bus service is so far from the residents and is only reached by a long walk many times in areas without sidewalks.

Until developments are designed for people to walk and use transit, it is uneconomical to provide transit service to these areas. We need more and better transit service, but we also need to start ensuring that developments are designed to support it.

Utah County in the news...

Feds greenlight I-15 expansion in Utah County

Utah County now gets to go through the fun that Salt Lake County went through a few years ago. I am sure more than a few people will be happy when Front Runner starts running to provide an alternative to the freeway.

FrontRunner to help commuters and, yes, even endangered fish

A new Train of Thought

This is from a Bicycle blog out of Utah County.

Rail Passenger Service Integration...

Image via Wikipedia One of the problems our present rail passenger service faces is the lack of integration between different carries such as Amtrak and Metrolink. This hold true here in Utah as there is no integration between Amtrak and the Front Runner Commuter Rail Service or TRAX however, most of that can be blamed directly on Amtrak being a none factor in our region. Here is links to a seven part series from the Intermountain Rail blog about integrating rail passenger service using examples from the airlines and the Thruway bus connections in California.

Poor Integration History

The Airlines-Code Sharing

The Airlines-The Regional Carriers

How it can be applied to rail passenger service

Integration of Schedules

The California Thruway: It Can Work

The Politics that holds us back

This Week in Amtrak...

Image by Puddles via Flickr A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail info@unitedrail.org http://www.unitedrail.org


Volume 5, Number 24


Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.


1) Amtrak is smiling approvingly at one its bankers, Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, who has filed a bill in the United States Senate to provide Amtrak with $2.8 billion to overhaul existing equipment and build new rolling stock.

If this bill becomes law (and, it is only in very early stages), Amtrak must take this opportunity to properly equip itself for the future – both financially and to meet passenger demand – with the correct selection of equipment, not just replacements for existing rolling stock.

URPA has updated its 2005 white paper, Concepts of the Successful Long Distance Passenger Train of the Future.

The update is attached, and may also be found on URPA’s web site.

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Articles from the week...

Image via Wikipedia From the Mobilizing the Region Blog out of the New York area comes this:

Highway Removal Olympics: Who Will Win the Gold?

San Francisco became famous for becoming the first area to remove a freeway after the 1989 Earthquake did serious damage to the largely completely freeway along the Embarcadero. Instead of a stub freeway they now have a beautiful pedestrian friendly boulevard with streetcar service.

Sadly, here in Utah we went the old direction with the rebuild of I-15 so we lost all the potential that could have been done with putting the freeway in a ditch and then a cap on top of it.

From Light Rail Transit Online comes:

TOD vs."TAD"

This has some good information about TOD developments. We are starting to see some developments coming on line and will see more in the future. I have noticed that more advertisements for housing stating that they are close to a TRAX line.

From the Denver Infill Blog:

The Denver Union Station Story

A great story about the history and future of Denver Union Station. While Salt Lake City let Boyer have their way with the Union Pacific Station, Denver is working to rebuild their magnificent Union Station. While it will not be a perfect situation (the light rail tracks will be about a block away from the completed station), it shows the what can be done.

That article was referred from the Denver Transit Stop Blog which has this story:

Sprawling From Grace

This talks about a video that is going to be shown at the Democratic National Convention in Denver this week. What I found interesting is the part of the video that talks about preventing gentrification and keeping character and diversity in a neighborhood.

From the Transit Sleuth comes this entry:

Last Night Wondering

Adron talks about his day doing things in Portland after work including how transit played a pivotal role in his activities. What this really points out is how Portland has become a city in which you can leave the car at home and hopefully Salt Lake will be there soon.

From Transit Miami comes:

UM: Wising Up To Transit

Apparently freshman are welcome at the University of Miami but their cars are not. The university is located on a Metrorail line and like the U Of U has their own shuttle service around the campus. When I was attending Railvolution last November I made a trip over to Coral Gables which included transferring from MetroRail to a bus to head over the Biltmore Hotel to take some pictures. In the 10 minutes I waited for the Metro Bus I counted at least six U of M shuttle vans stopping at the transit center on their trips around the campus.

From Streetsblog comes this:

The Parking Cure, Step 1: Diagnose the Problem

Previously I talked about how new school guide lines have made new schools walking unfriendly over the course of the last several years in this entry: Schools and Sprawl.

This situation in New York is very similar in that regulations have been enacted over the years that are pedestrian and transit unfriendly and need to be changed.

From the Seattle Transit Blog comes:

News Stands

Could news stands at certain TRAX stations help the newspaper and magazine businesses? They seem to work well in some of the major cities (obviously Seattle is not one of the them...yet), but what about Salt Lake City? Can't use the weather argument because cities with worse weather than us have them.

From the RT Rider comes this information from Sacramento:

RT's worst-case scenario at a glance

RT's current $2.00 fare may go up to $2.25 and severe bus cuts may be necessary. Once again Sacramento like most California systems are dependent on funding from the state and the Govenator is busing trying to transfer funds from transit to highways so they transfer that to other programs.

From Portland Transport:

Streetcar Loop Moves Forward, Your Input Needed on Future Routes

Portland is looking to extend its streetcar line across the Willamette River to the east side of Portland. Portland has been dealing with the federal governments bias toward buses over rail for in trying to get the streetcar off the ground.

From Cap' Transit Rides Again comes:

Cities are Born in Moments of Transition

Interesting perspective on why downtown areas died including highway bypasses.

Moab Facing Affordable Housing Problems...

Image via Wikipedia Landowner's development plans highlight affordable housing dilemma in Moab

Just earlier this week there was an article of what his facing the Heber Valley and how affordable housing is slowly becoming non-existent in the area. Moab is even in worse shape since they do not have nearby cities to dump their lower income people in.

Most of the these people will have to either had to places like Thompson, Green River, or Monticello which is a good distance from the Moab area.

No More Tokens as TRAX payments...

Fraud ends use of UTA tokens for TRAX ticket payments

You Tube vidoes about rail passenger service...

Image via Wikipedia Here is a series of three videos, each about 9 minutes in length that talk go over the history of transportation investments and the need for better rail passenger service.

The focus on the videos is on developing more short distance corridors, but it does feature interviews with crew members and passenger aboard the Crescent with is a long distance train that runs from New York to New Orleans.

Here in the west we have a need for a better network of interconnected long distance trains more than corridor trains. The biggest problem facing the rail network out here is the lack of the networkable route system.





The final video features Matthew Melzer from the National Association of Railroad Passengers. I first met him when he was only 15 and already a passenger train advocate in California.

Two new publications from UTA on Draper Line...

Two new publications regarding the Draper Transit Corridor Project are now available on rideuta.com.

Definition of Alternatives Report - July 2008

Alternatives Evaluation Methodology Report - August 2008

For more publications related to this project,

The planning and environmental review process is underway to find a transit solution that meets the needs of Draper and Sandy residents and the Wasatch Front region.

For more information on this project

Buses to Saratoga Springs and Eagle Mountain??

Image via Wikipedia Express bus plan short on time

What happens when you build a lot of homes in a rural area without the proper infrastructure and no transit service? You get what is happening in Saratoga Springs and Eagle Mountain and that is traffic problems galore.

While Eagle Mountain has used New Urbanist style designs in their homes, it still does not overcome the fact that the area is rural and not ready for a major suburban development.

While adding the sales tax will get the cities limited Utah Transit Authority bus service, it does not solve the basic problems of large developments were the infrastructure is not designed to handle the amount of traffic it now has.

Mid Jordan Construction Update

Image via Wikipedia

Mid-Jordan Light Rail TRAX Construction Update: August 20, 2008*

Please forward this information on to others that would be interested.

*This schedule is subject to change due to weather, materials issues, or unanticipated utility conflicts.

Bangerter Highway Road Impacts

UPDATE: Due to materials issues, the Bangerter Highway construction activities have been delayed and will not be taking place as scheduled between August 18^th and August 25^th. There will be a notification when construction activities are scheduled to begin.

Sugar Factory Area

There are no activities taking place that impact traffic at this time.

Old Bingham Area

UPDATE: Due to materials issues, the Old Bingham Highway construction activities have been delayed and will not be taking place as scheduled. There will be a notification when construction activities are scheduled to begin.

Activity: Utility work is currently ongoing. Traffic Impacts: Shoulder work with possible lane restrictions.

Gardner Village Area

Activity: Access to Gardner Village from the Jordan River Parkway Trail is closed until August 2009.

Activity: The Jordan River Parkway Trail will be detoured near approximately 7500 South beginning in early September. More details regarding specific impacts will follow in a separate email update.

Activity: Construction on retaining walls at 7800 South near Gardner Village began on June 30th and will continue for approximately 2 months. Traffic Impacts: There will be a designated truck turning lane on the north side of 7800 South accessing the Gardner Village property. Flagging operations will be in place as trucks enter and exit the roadway. To accommodate this construction, the following closures will be in place:

· The eastbound lane on the south side of 7800 South will be closed as necessary starting on August 6^th

· The westbound lane on the north side of 7800 South will be closed with flagging operations through September 5th

Activity: Grading and utility work is currently ongoing. Traffic Impacts: Shoulder closures with possible lane restrictions.

Cottonwood Area

Activity: Construction will begin in the Cottonwood Street area in early September. More details regarding specific impacts will follow later this week in a separate email update.

Activity: Utility work will continue in the Cottonwood Street area through the month of August. Traffic Impacts: Possible lane restrictions.

If you have any question or concerns regarding the project, please let me know.

Sarah Loughlin

Community Involvement Specialist

Utah Transit Authority

Office: 801-236-4783

24-Hour Project Hotline: (888) 550-2211

sloughlin@rideuta.com

You have been included on the Mid-Jordan Light Rail TRAX Construction Update project update email list. Each time the construction schedule is updated, you will receive an email notifying you of the update. If you would like to be removed from this list, simply send an email stating so.

Editorial from the Trib about growth in Heber area...

Image via Wikipedia Heber crossroads: Runaway growth or sustainable development?

Heber Valley needs to start planning now for its future. Otherwise it destined to become like many other communities in the shadow of Park City like areas. As housing prices rise in Park City people will move on to places like Heber causing Heber's prices to go out of the control which is happening.

Eventually the average working class person cannot afford to live their anymore so they have to move even farther away.

This has happened in Aspen, Sun Valley and many others. While the current economic conditions may slow the process, unless something is done for the long term, Heber is destined to become an expensive extension of Park City.

Broadway in New York gets makeover...

For a look at what is happening in New York to help make things easier and more convinient for bicycles and pedestrians, take a look at this article from Streetsblog:

Eyes on the Street: A Walk Down Broadway Boulevard

Perils for Pedestrian Video

Here is another one of the Perils for Pedestrian Videos.

This was the 12th episode of the series (there is more hundreds).

The third segment talks about problems with people in crosswalks and with cars stopping for them. The person mentions that sometimes one car will stop and others will go around them. A family we know in Spokane the mother and her children were crossing in crosswalk on a two lane road. The cars stopped in both directions. A driver went around the stopped cars and hit them. Because the driver was elderly she was not prosecuted despite making an illegal passing maneuver.

Every time one of these incidents happen in Spokane there is some Paramedic that always writes a letter to the editor statement that the solution would be to eliminate pedestrian rights. Then he mentions cities such as Jacksonville, Florida as shining examples of cities were pedestrians don't have right of way. Jacksonville, Florida is not exactly a city I would hope up as an example of a livable city. Besides the issue automobiles not obeying the laws.

The fourth section of the video talks about about the abuse of handicap parking permits.

The fifth section is another one I really like. It talks about how little things like painting lines in the proper places can make a big difference for pedestrians.

Bicycle Parking in Portland

From Streetfilms comes this video about innovative bike parking in Portland. If you listen to the anti-transit types you would think that Portland is the worst place in world and that no one would want to live there considering how bad it is.

However, Portland is alive and people do want to live there. In fact that is part of the problem is so many want to live there that it creates higher housing cost due to demand.

Saturday trip to Ogden...

Image via Wikipedia Yesterday I had another experience at riding Front Runner.

I took the 2:25pm out of Central Station up to Ogden. Arriving at Central Station I was amazed at how many people were getting off the train and heading for TRAX. I knew that the Italian festival was going on in front of the Rio Grande depot but did not expect such crowding on a Saturday. While my train wasn't full it still had a pretty good crowd.

I forgot to bring along my schedules when I left home and didn't think to get one while on Front Runner so I went into the transit center to get them. I knew what times my buses were supposed to come but wanted the schedules in case something happened.

While the schedule racks were well equipped, there were no Front Runner timetables. In fact all the Front Runner timetables were stored next to the ticket windows but were not accessible due to a gate being down on the weekend.

After running into the transit center I got on the 603 which was a 2007 Gillig BRT bus in order to ride over to Washington Blvd to connect with the 612. The last time I was in Ogden I saw several Chinese restaurants along the southern portion of the 612 so I was planning to head to one of them.

I was delayed in boarding while a woman helped putt her elderly mother on the bus who needed to transfer to the northbound 612. There was also a family sitting near the front with a couple of children. I didn't pay attention to the two woman sitting on the left side of the bus as I passed them at sat down in the left side seats before the step to the rear of the bus.

As I sat down the one woman wearing jean shorts and a tube top on the left side of the bus was trying to collapse her baby stroller. She started getting really mad at it and after a couple of minutes threw the baby stroller out the door of the bus, then put a cigarette in her mouth and walked out and started smoking (at the time I thought the baby was still in it but the other woman was holding the baby).

After a couple of minutes she finished her cigarette, finally collapsed the baby seat then came in and slammed it onto the empty area above the right front tire. You could see the family on the right get upset when she slammed the baby stroller next them as it hit the side window very hard. The woman then looked at them and said "Don't give me a dirty look, just get the **** off the bus if you don't like it".

Yes this woman had some anger issues to deal with. The mother of the family on the right went up and said to the driver that she was nervous riding with that woman on the bus but the driver just kept looked in the mirror at angry woman as she bent over above the other woman who turned out to be her mother who was holding the baby.

Then angry woman made a couple of more comments to the mother on the right as the bus headed over to Washington Blvd which fortunately is a short ride. I got off the bus quickly and walked over to catch the 612. There is only supposed to be a 4-minute wait for the 612 but it was no were in sight. When I saw the northbound 612 show up I walked over to that bus since I still could not see the southbound coming.

I board the bus that was fairly crowded. I ended up sitting on the seat directly in front of the back door. The family from the 603 was sitting on the left side of the bus while the mother of the angry woman from the 603 sat in the same seat as I did on the 603. The angry woman's mother showed all the signs of being a meth user.

I knew there was some fast food places at 12th Street so I decided to head up there. We ended up stopping at every stop along the way and by the time I got off the bus was standing room only. After a quick lunch at Wendy's I took the 612 back to 25th street. This trip was very uneventful except for one woman who got on with a baby stroller with the driver telling her she need to have it collapsed before boarding the bus.

Instead of riding the 603 three blocks to Union Station I just walked.

Since I still didn't have a timetable for Front Runner, I went over and boarded the train after it pulled in at 8:25pm and waited for its 9:08pm departure. Just before departure a police officer walked through and checked everyone's tickets.

The trip down to Salt Lake City was pretty uneventful except for a couple of people who got into argument in the transition area at the end of the car although nothing ever came of it. When we arrived at Central Station at 10:15pm there was a huge crowed getting on who started pushing on before we could even get off the train. Some of them were even dressed in pretty formal attire.

I had a few minute wait until the next Sandy train departed. The northbound Front Runner left with a full load of passengers despite it being 10:25pm. There was even a large group to get on our southbound TRAX train. I knew since I was getting off at the 4500 South station the best place to sit was the very back of the train so that is were I decided to sit.

There was good crowds greeting the train at very stop and we had a full seated load by the time we left the Courthouse TRAX station. Upon arriving at the Ballpark station it was clear the Bee's game just let out and there was a wall of people ready to board the train. From the stop until I got off at Midvale North station the train was standing room only.

Overall, this trip was a mix of everything. From the people getting on Front Runner in formal wear to the angry woman it was a mixture of extremes. What is clear is that that we have a developing system that is becoming a vital regional resource. I was able to travel by UTA bus, Front Runner commuter rail, and UTA TRAX service to make a trip across the region. This is how the system is supposed to work, I was able to take multiple forms of transit to reach my destination in relative convenience.

Opinions from the Daily Herald...

Image by Theorris via Flickr IN OUR VIEW: Keep good news coming, UTA

Opinion from today's Daily Herald.

The Daily Herald makes a very good point. Right now Front Runner commuter rail is under construction from Salt Lake City to Provo. This will provide Utah County's first rail service and will be a big change for the area. In the past many people asked why you would need TRAX service when you have commuter rail.

Now that Front Runner is up and running people can start telling the difference between the two. Commuter rail is excellent for longer trips between longer distances. Light Rail on the other is excellent in providing service between shorter distances.

That would leave only one tier in the hierarchy of transit service missing and that is streetcar. The hierarchy being bus service--->Streetcar--->Light Rail--->Commuter Rail. Each one in the hierarchy has its place and provides a different level of service. Each provides a different level of service but when designed properly provide a regional network of effective transit solutions.

Blog Posts of the week...

Image via Wikipedia Here are the blog posts that I found interesting this week:

From a new blog simply called Light Rail Transit comes this entry:

Economic Impact of Light Rail - Dallas, Texas

Good information on how properties appreciated around DART line at a faster rate than those not close to a DART line.

From the blog Track Twenty Nine comes this entry:

"History's Gonna Change"

The author talks about the movie Back to the Future (a favorite of mine), and how the changes in the town square from 1955 to 1985 and on to 2015. While the movie was actually shot on the Universal back lot (the entire town area burned to the ground in their recent fire, to does a good job of showing the decline of downtown and its rebirth.

From the Overhead Wire comes a story about Los Angeles Rail ridership being up:

Rail Ridership in LA Up Again

What is interesting is that Los Angeles may be voting in may for to increase taxes for more rail lines. Of course the Bus Riders Union is opposed along with the areas usually cast of transit haters. Just put things in perspective, the Blue Line between Los Angeles and Long Beach is carrying 86, 000 passengers per day.

From the Streetsblog Los Angeles Blog comes these:

Transit Stimulus Bill Needs Co-Sponsors in Senate

Wiki Wednesday: Urban Bicycling With Children

From the Smart Growth Around America Blog comes this entry:

Poor sidewalks, bikeways and transit service a barrier for older Americans seeking relief from high gas prices

Interesting post, I have several neighbors who should not be driving but do to how pedestrian unfriendly my area can be most of them have to drive.

From the Seattle Transit Blog:

Central Link Tukwila Live Wire Testing

It is nice to see something about to happen in Seattle. The company I was working for at the time temporarily had me living in Seattle when the vote for this project took place and that was 1996. Long time to wait for progress. Look what Salt Lake has done in that time!

But 100,000 hours is a lot of buses

Sound Transit in the Seattle area provides regional service while the the counties and one city in the Puget Sound region provide for local service. With a tax measure going to the voters in November, some are wanting more buses now instead of light rail in the future. The Seattle Transit Blog has some good answers to this.

From the Planetizen Blog:

Walkable Neighborhood Grocers

This is an excellent posting about how important walkable grocery stores are to making a walkable city.

From the CTA Tattler in Chicago:

Dire Straits band rides the Red Line to Wrigley for a game

What, you mean they didn't ride in their luxury motor home?

That's it from this week.

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• Metro's Ridership Numbers Break Records Again

Washington DC starts bike sharing and the need for car sharing

Image via Wikipedia Washington DC has become the first city in the United States to start a bike sharing program. While not as extensive as most European cities, it is never the less a first step to improving transportation options.

Here is comments from Streetsblog Los Angeles about the program:

Bike-Share Debuts in Washington D.C.

Here in Salt Lake City not only do we need the Bike Share facility, we also need to have car sharing also. Car sharing stations cars throughout the area and all you have to do is sign up with the program and you can use the cars when you need them.

The downfall currently is that the two major companies in car sharing Flexcar and Zipcar have merged and the service provided by Zipcar has gone down substantially. However, that opens up the opportunity for a local entrepreneur to be part of the operation here in Salt Lake helping the local economy.

If you add car sharing and bike sharing programs, it becomes easier to be car free in the metropolitan area.

Articles ...

Here are some articles from today's newspapers:

Work on Station Park gets under way

Work on the Station Park project is getting underway in Farmington at the Front Runner Station. I have previously talked about this project and my feelings on the project.

UVU may sell land for $3.6 million

UVU may sell land to UTA for a Front Runner Station along the UP mainline across the freeway from the University. A pedestrian bridge will link the campus and the Front Runner Station. While not the ideal situation, it is the probably the best that could be worked out.

UTA eyes route cuts if sales taxes remain flat

Another blow for riders will be possible service cuts. Of course this once again will give people the opportunity to beat their chest and demand that John Inglish loose when the problem lies that their primary funding source is the sales tax which is very cyclical.