OGDEN — The Ogden Express bus rapid transit line is about ready to make its big debut.

Ahead of a late-August launch for the new transportation option, nicknamed OGX, the public is being invited to the route’s ribbon-cutting next week. The event, featuring several dignitaries from the Utah Transit Authority, Federal Transit Administration and others, is set to take place at Skinny Dogz in The Junction from 10:30 a.m. to noon on Aug. 2.

James Larson, senior internal communications manager with the UTA, told the Standard-Examiner earlier this month the ribbon-cutting will be an opportunity to express gratitude toward the public.

“We’ll have a big thank you to everyone,” he said. “We’ll have the art (from various bus stops) on display and afterwards (and) Costa Vida’s going to be doing a taco bar for those attendees.”

Speakers will include UTA board member Beth Holbrook, FTA Administrator Nuria Fernandez, U.S. Rep. Blake Moore, Ogden Mayor Mike Caldwell, Weber State University President Brad Mortensen and UTA Executive Director Jay Fox.

This will not mark the start of services, which will be given a soft launch on Aug. 19 during the Ogden farmer’s market and a full launch on Aug. 20. The service will have free fare for riders for at least three years.

On Wednesday, Larson said testing has gone well.

“We’ve got a good gauge on traffic patterns and flows during different times of the day and different times of the week,” he said. “We’ve got a few little landscape projects here and there, but all-in-all, stations are looking amazing, testing’s going well. We’re all ready for the Aug. 20 launch of OGX and we’re just excited to see people take advantage of the system as a whole.”

According to Larson, testing has revealed some minor items that are being rectified.

“Some of the charging stations weren’t working exactly the way we needed them to, so we’ve got Rocky Mountain Power coming up and making minor tweaks on the charging and the power,” he said. “We made a few modifications as (drivers) have gone through training and determined the radius of how the bus turns, so they’ve cut back concrete in certain spots and moved some railing back a little bit more so that we have a little more clearance in certain areas.”

Larson said the project has largely avoided an issue seen on other regional BRT routes.

“Surprisingly enough, and knock-on-wood, we haven’t seen any cars driving down the bus-only lanes on Harrison and Washington Boulevard,” he said. “I think UDOT going in and making those roads bright red and putting, ‘bus only’ every few feet has really helped with that. UVX (Utah Valley Express), we had a major issue with cars driving in bus-only lanes.”

He added that next week’s ribbon-cutting and the official launch of services won’t be the end of public celebrations of the new service.

A grand opening celebration has been set for Aug. 26 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the corner of 25th Street and Washington Boulevard in conjunction with Farmer’s Market Ogden.

“We’ll have a Willy Wonka-type theme,” he said. “We’ll have 2,000 fanny packs and we’ll have 10 hidden tickets to win prizes. We’ll have cotton candy machines. The bus will be decorated like a chocolate factory for kids to climb on and grab candy. Costa Vida will be there with samples.”

He said that several other activities will be available during the grand opening celebration.

“We’ll also have free fare for that entire day, so anyone can ride FrontRunner, TRAX, bus and OGX all day long for free on Aug. 26,” he said.

Larson said UTA officials are excited to see the service finally in use.

“Take advantage of those free first three years to experience public transportation and let’s ditch those cars,” he said. “Let’s improve our environment and just make a better life for all of us here in Ogden, Utah.”

Newsletter