Salt Lake City: Livability in the 21st Century

UTAH TRANSIT AUTHORITY
Public transportation plays an important role in Utah’s
economic development and improving the quality of life.
The Utah Transit Authority’s vision is to provide an
integrated system of innovative, accessible and efficient
public transportation services that offer increased access
to opportunities and a healthy environment for all people
of the Wasatch region. UTA operates bus, TRAX light rail,
FrontRunner commuter rail, streetcar, and vanpool services
that transported more than 44 million people in 2013.
In 1968 one of the last public transportation providers
in Salt Lake County, Salt Lake City Lines, ended its services.
Salt Lake City Corporation, Union Street Railway and
Salt Lake County successfully lobbied the Utah State
Legislature to pass a bill allowing individual localities to
address their public transportation needs by forming local
transit districts. In 1970 residents of Salt Lake City and
the surrounding communities of Murray, Midvale, Sandy
and Bingham voted to form a public transit district, and
created the Utah Transit Authority.
For years, UTA primarily provided bus services along
the Wasatch Front. That all changed in 1999, when UTA
opened its first TRAX light rail line. The new TRAX line
inaugurated a proud tradition of delivering major capital
projects ahead of schedule and on budget. UTA has since
completed seven additional TRAX lines servicing the greater
Salt Lake metropolitan area, and constructed two major
FrontRunner commuter rail lines servicing the Wasatch
Front. In 2013, UTA also opened its first streetcar project,
the S-Line, servicing the Sugar House area of Salt Lake City
and the City of South Salt Lake. UTA now operates
44.8 miles of light rail, 89 miles of commuter rail and
2 miles of streetcar services.
Administrative offices for UTA are located at 669 West 200
South in Salt Lake City. UTA also has vehicle maintenance
facilities in Ogden, Midvale, South Salt Lake and Orem.
UTA has 2,248 employees, including 794 in administration;
and 1, 454 in operations, maintenance and support roles.
UTA services cover 1,600 square miles in Box Elder,
Davis, Salt Lake, Tooele, Utah, and Weber Counties and
offers limited service to Park City in Summit County. More
than eighty percent of the state’s population has access
to UTA services. UTA has won the “Outstanding Public
Transportation System,” award from the American Public
Transportation Association three times, placing it among the
most respected agencies in the industry.
For more information, please visit rideuta.com.
S A L T L A K E C I T Y — L i v a b i l i t y i n t h e 2 1 s t C e n t u r y
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