The current draft includes phased and prioritized plans for Salt Lake County in 2025. However, there are a multitude of proposed changes in Davis, Weber and Box Elder counties currently slated for 2026-2029.

Where the Ogden area is concerned, UTA Manager of Service Planning Eric Callison told the Standard-Examiner that the goal of the proposed changes is to restore services that have been reduced in recent years.

“We did make a number of service reductions during the COVID pandemic, and we are working on building that service back up,” Callison said. “That’s probably our highest priority right now for Ogden and Weber County is getting that bus service either back up to the level it was before COVID or, in a couple of cases, up to a higher level.”

Callison singled out Route 470, the Ogden-Salt Lake Intercity route, as an area where significant changes in order to boost service levels are planned.

As it stands, the route runs from Downtown Salt Lake to 17th Street and Wall Avenue in Ogden. However, the updated five-year service plan calls for the route to be divided into two routes that would run more regularly.

“That’s currently a 30-minute service, and it’s the same route all the way from Ogden to Salt Lake. It’s a very long bus route,” Callison said. “We’re proposing to split that in half at Farmington Station and have the northern half become Route 600, which would be a 15-minute service. So, basically doubling the amount of service on that corridor.”

Other proposed changes include increases in local service on Harrison Boulevard, Monroe Avenue, Wall Avenue and other destinations throughout Ogden.

The plan also calls for Route F618 — a flex route servicing Business District Ogden — to be discontinued in favor of a regular route.

“We’re proposing to turn that into a 40-foot regular bus, increase capacity to the BDO with a more direct connection to the FrontRunner station,” Callison said.

The reintroduction of FrontRunner service to Pleasant View (and expansion beyond) has been a hot topic locally for the last several years. And while the current five-year plan does not include any changes to FrontRunner, UTA is still working on extending the line northward to Brigham City in the future.

In the meantime, UTA is proposing an increase in Northern Weber County’s bus service.

“We do have a proposal to extend three bus routes up there through North Ogden, Pleasant View and the Harrisville/Marriott-Slaterville area,” Callison said. “We have some infrastructure there. We could still use it as a park and ride and as a transit station with these bus routes, even if it’s not FrontRunner service. We can still extend our transit service up there and provide that service for those communities that don’t have today.”

Although the public comment period ends Friday, Callison said the community is always able to provide feedback on UTA’s current and future services.

“If it’s [regarding the five-year plan], then it would be best to do it during the times that we’re open for public comment. But people can call in at any point and say, ‘Hey, I have a suggestion,’ and we’ll certainly take that into consideration as much as we’re able,” he said.

UTA will review comments and revise its five-year plan over the next several weeks with the aim of adopting the final plan in December. Actual service changes are slated to begin in April.

“April of each year is when we would be rolling out new service,” Callison said. “That’s because we have the drivers that we’ve hired to do [ski season] that now need something else to do. So, we can have them run additional local service and then staff up again for ski at the end of that year.”

For more information, including an interactive map of proposed changes throughout the region, or to submit feedback on the plan draft, go to https://rideuta.com/Current-Projects/UTA-Five-Year-Service-Plan-2025-2029-Draft.