More changes are coming for the UTA transit service, but this time it's not the buses, it's the train.
The Utah Transit Authority recently announced that the FrontRunner commuter train service, much like the Express bus and TRAX service, will face cuts this year.
As a result of reduced sales tax revenues and an internal budget shortfall, UTA is making service cuts across the board.
UTA has proposed cutting Express bus routes 472, 474, and 476 as a way to save money. UTA says that the Express buses, which run between Ogden and Salt Lake City, are redundant because they share the same destination as FrontRunner.
But now FrontRunner service is next on the chopping block.
UTA spokesman Gerry Carpenter said the changes are relatively minor and not significant enough to hold public hearings on the matter.
Currently, FrontRunner trains make stops every half-hour during weekdays, but beginning April 5, trains will make only hourly stops during mid-day, off-peak hours.
Weekday service will go to hourly stops after the 8:57 a.m. northbound train from Salt Lake City and the 10:16 a.m. southbound train from Ogden.
Thirty-minute service will begin again after the 12:57 p.m. northbound trip and the 3:16 p.m. southbound trip.
Hourly evening service will also begin sooner, starting after the 6:57 p.m. northbound trip and the 8:16 p.m. southbound trip.
The final evening trips will also leave sooner. The last northbound trip will be at 10:57 p.m. and the last southbound trip at 11:16 p.m.
Also, southbound evening riders from Pleasant View will be required to transfer trains in Ogden.
"It's all intended to help reduce our operating expenses," Carpenter said of the cuts. "We're trying to do it in a way that doesn't affect peak hour trips, but we've been faced with some hard decisions."
The changes to FrontRunner aren't all cuts.
One early morning trip at 4:16 a.m. from Ogden will be added to the schedule.
The addition is based on customer demand for an earlier weekday trip to Salt Lake, Carpenter said. Riders can connect to downtown and the University of Utah on bus routes 2 and 200 at Salt Lake Central station.
All changes will begin April 5.
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