I am a resident of Syracuse in Davis County. However, I work and go to school in Salt Lake City. I have always been proud of our public transit system and have religiously used it daily for the past two years. That dedication, however, ceased the day that UTA altered their service routes within the TRAX system.
I used to be able to park my car for free at the Clearfield FrontRunner station, hop on the morning train to Salt Lake Central, and make the transfer to the university line train right at Salt Lake Central station. I would conveniently hop off at my nearest campus or work stop and walk a short distance to my destination.
It's not so easy now. The first part remains the same, until I get to Salt Lake Central. I now have to get on a Sandy-bound train, making a transfer at the courthouse. That wouldn't be so bad if everybody else didn't get dumped there as well, which they do. With the hundreds of people waiting, a "red line" university train arrives. Since it originates out of Daybreak now, it's picked up hundreds of other commuters on the way to the courthouse, and the train is more packed than a New York subway during rush hour. Hundreds more students are now trying to squeeze into the already-cramped train cars with their backpacks and bikes. Some people even get left behind due to the full cars.
Then there's the case of the journey home. With trains running every 15 minutes, the only way to catch the 5:30 p.m. FrontRunner service is to catch the 5 p.m. TRAX service from the station nearest my work (library). However, the trains are always late. It wouldn't be too much of an issue if the train at the library was a few minutes late, but that train drops us off at the courthouse where the "Green Line" or "Blue Line" train we have to catch to Salt Lake Central is also late. With the train scheduled to arrive just five minutes before the FrontRunner departs, I almost always miss the 5:30 p.m. FrontRunner, which also happens to be the only evening train with service to Pleasant View.
What about all those people who assumed the trains would be running in a timely manner to get them home in time? They now have to take a multi-hour bus ride home. Now, all those abandoned passengers and myself are stuck sitting at the platform waiting 30 minutes for the next train to leave. We just have to hope it isn't raining, snowing, freezing, or scorching sun.
All this hassle, when a solution seems simple enough. UTA needs to implement some kind of "University Express" line from Salt Lake Central station to the university during peak hours (morning/evening rush hours for work and school).
This "University Express" train would alleviate the issue of adding more passengers to already-crowded trains once they've reached the courthouse, and provide a simpler, more convenient way for commuters taking the FrontRunner to get to the university. I have been driving to work and school every day now for the past month because I am done dealing with the hassle of the train.
UTA needs to alleviate this problem or it will just continue to lose customers as the "convenient" aspect is diminished.
Kyle Jourdan is a resident of Syracuse.
Comments