UTA proposes hike in bus service after Pleasant View FrontRunner station closes
A Utah Transit Authority bus heads down Washington Boulevard after picking up passengers in Ogden on Monday, Dec. 18, 2017.
The map of Utah Transit Authority's Route 616 bus line linking the Ogden and Pleasant View FrontRunner stations is shown here. UTA officials propose increasing service on the route after the Pleasant View FrontRunner station closes after Aug. 10, 2018.
PLEASANT VIEW — Utah Transit Authority officials propose increasing service on a bus line linking the Ogden FrontRunner station and the soon-to-close FrontRunner stop in Pleasant View.
UTA plans to halt service in August to the Pleasant View station, which has the lowest ridership on the FrontRunner network, making the Ogden stop the northern endpoint of the commuter rail line. The decision stems from the high cost of complying with new federal rules that would require upgrades to the Ogden-Pleasant View track segment.
RELATED: Pleasant View FrontRunner station closing in August due to new safety rules
Per the new UTA proposal, frequency of southbound bus service between the Pleasant View and Ogden FrontRunner stations on Route 616, the North Weber FrontRunner Shuttle, would increase from eight per weekday to 13. Northbound bus service between the two stations would increase from eight to 12.
Steven Allnatt, a UTA spokesman, emphasized that the travel time between the Pleasant View and Ogden FrontRunner stations is about the same whether via train or bus — around 15 minutes. UTA will halt FrontRunner service to Pleasant View after Aug. 10, when the increased bus service is to begin.
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[imagecropped=UTA Route 616]
The proposal — which follows a pair of public meetings in March to gather input from the public on the Pleasant View FrontRunner plans — will be the topic of two meetings later this month, events meant to let the public sound off. They’re to be held May 16 at the Pleasant View Municipal Building, 520 W. Elberta Drive, and May 17 at the North Ogden City Hall, 505 E. 2600 North, each going from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.
RELATED: UTA seeks input on closing Pleasant View FrontRunner station
The Pleasant View FrontRunner station is the lowest-utilized along the FrontRunner network, which extends south to Provo, a UTA rep said last February in revealing the planned closure. Just four to six people use the FrontRunner stop in Pleasant View each trip, according to Allnatt.
Some northern Weber County officials have attributed the low FrontRunner use out of Pleasant View to the limited departures from the station, just four per weekday, at 4:52 a.m., 5:52 a.m., 6:52 p.m. and 7:52 p.m.
Even so, plans over the long haul call for construction of a new track linking Ogden and Pleasant View so FrontRunner service can resume. As is, Union Pacific Railroad owns the Ogden-Pleasant View segment and UTA, which accounts for the minimal FrontRunner traffic on the line, has limited access to it.
Toby Mileski, the northern Utah rep to the UTA Board of Trustees, said if there was a UTA-owned track linking Ogden and Pleasant View, allowing more frequent FrontRunner service, “we’d have regular traffic and UTA traffic would skyrocket.”
The first step to the construction of a new rail line would be the acquisition of right of way along the existing Union Pacific track, which would cost an estimated $4.5 million to $10 million. Mileski said he’s approached area leaders on the Weber Area Council of Governments about providing funding for the land buy and they’re open to it.
He’s hoping for a resolution of support from WACOG to buy the right of way by year’s end, which he thinks would spur UTA officials to start surveying and other preliminary work, speeding the timeline to build the new line. Addition of a new FrontRunner stop in Business Depot Ogden, between the Ogden and Pleasant View stations, is part of the plans, and Mileski hopes for such an addition between two and five years.
Contact reporter Tim Vandenack at tvandenack@standard.net, follow him on Twitter at @timvandenack or like him on Facebook at Facebook.com/timvandenackreporter.