Utah Transit Authority

The Utah Transit Authority (UTA) is a special service district responsible for providing public transportation throughout the Wasatch Front of Utah, in the United States, which includes the metropolitan areas of Ogden, Park City, Provo, Salt Lake City and Tooele. It operates fixed route buses, flex route buses, express buses, ski buses, three light rail lines in Salt Lake County (TRAX), a streetcar line in Salt Lake City (the S-Line), and a commuter rail train (FrontRunner) from Ogden through Salt Lake City to Provo. UTA is headquartered in Salt Lake City with operations and garages in locations throughout the Wasatch Front, including Ogden, Midvale and Orem. Light rail vehicles are stored and maintained at yards at locations in South Salt Lake and Midvale. UTA's commuter rail equipment is stored and serviced at a facility in Salt Lake City. In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of . History The Utah Transit Authority traces its roots to 1953 when several bus companies united to form the organization. Ironically, among the constitutive companies of the UTA was National City Lines, famous for its alleged cannibalization of American streetcar lines on behalf of General Motors. NSL had bought out and promptly decommissioned the electric trolleys operated by the Utah Light and Traction Company in Salt Lake City neighborhoods like the Avenues in the 1940s. Throughout the 1950s buses became more and more unpopular, with low gas prices and subsidized construction of highways like Interstate 15. By 1960, bus ridership was only about one third the level of war-time Salt Lake, and the average age of riders was 14. In 1969, the Utah State Legislature passed the Utah Public Transit District Act, which allowed individual communities to address transportation needs by forming local transit districts. UTA was subsequently founded on March 3, 1970, when the cities of Sandy, Salt Lake City, and Murray voted to form a transit district. Service was extended to Weber and Davis counties in 1973 and to Utah County in 1985. Today, the UTA's service area is over and covers seven counties: Box Elder, Davis, Salt Lake, Summit, Tooele, Utah, and Weber.