TRAX--First Day & Beyond

The verdict is in. The new Trax light rail in Salt Lake City is an unqualified success. In the first two weeks, Trax carried 20,000 passengers per day--6,000 more than predicted. The biggest glitches had to do with more passengers than seats. The people lined up at the stations could not physically squeeze through the doors into the packed cars.

There is a penned up demand for mass transit and alternatives to the automobile. Trax is a good first step to providing alternatives. The large customer turn out shows that the light rail is not simply the fulfillment of a UTA bureaucratic fantasy, but is a useful tool that addresses an actual need.

The Trax system is now the best way into downtown from the south valley. Trax runs about every fifteen minutes, and the cost of a two dollar round trip is less than the cost of parking. The ride is smooth. The people are friendly. The system is clean, fast and safe.

Building a leg from downtown Salt Lake to the University of Utah will only improve the success of the light rail. Both the south track, and the leg to the University deserve the full support of the Utah community. If the Trax system continues to grow. It will provide better transportation, and be less of a taxpayer's burden the UTA bus system.

On December 15th, the Salt Lake City council opened the door for building an East West Track, going from downtown to the University of Utah. This leg to the University will dramatically increase ridership. The "U" is a commuter college, and has always had serious parking and traffic problems. The corridor between downtown and the "U" will have as much, if not more traffic than the south bound rail.

The Salt Lake City Council did an excellent job in the negotiating the details of the new East-West leg of the light rail. They were attentive to the tax payer's needs and the burdens that would be placed on the businesses in the light rail construction corridor. Most important, the light rail forced UTA to seek alternative funding from sources such as the University of Utah. Rather than placing the entire burden on the Salt Lake tax payers.

Unfortunately, the UTA stills suffers the downsides of any collectivized industry. In building Trax, UTA ignored the needs of its customer base. Because the UTA had changed most bus routes to feed the light rail. Many of the longstanding UTA customers face additional transfers and a longer commute.

UTA also pulled some extremely ugly power politics to get funding for the train. UTA had placed an tax-initiative before the Salt Lake County voters to fund the construction of the rail. Despite high profile support from the Newspapers, mayors and more, the voters rejected the initiative. UTA then pulled a negative series of behind the scene politics to get the funding despite a direct vote against the UTA.

The light rail is a success, because train systems are an efficient means of transport--not because of the bureaucracy and power politics of the UTA. The system would be even more successful if it was independent of the UTA bureaucracy. Quite frankly, train systems are fun to use and more efficient than cars. If you could remove the inefficiencies of UTA, I have little doubt that the Trax system could actually be run at a profit.

For more information, events, links and forums on Salt Lake City, visit About.com--Salt Lake City.