Utah Transit Authority officials say they are in the middle of a classic stress situation involving individual rights vs. the public good.
The individual rights involve property owners who don't want a UTA transfer station built in their neighborhood. The public good is serving some 9,000 daily bus riders who need a major transfer point to get to school, work, medical providers and various shopping destinations.Earlier this year, University Mall officials told UTA to abandon its transfer station at one of the mall entrances. Mall officials said the move was prompted by complaints from store owners and other problems caused by bus riders waiting for transfers.
UTA established a temporary transfer point on 1200 South near United Savings Bank but was forced by the bank to abandon that site. For the past two months, UTA has been operating out of three temporary sites along the mall perimeter. A 90-day agreement permitting that use is close to expiring. Effort to acquire property on 800 East near the new post office has been frustrated by residents demanding inflated prices for their land. UTA has no powers of condemnation to force a sale and the it is not allowed to pay more than fair-market value for property acquisition. Orem city, which could use condemnation powers, has thus far refused to come to UTA's assistance.
John Inglish, spokesman for the UTA, told the Deseret News, the bus service may "at some point have to just throw in the towel."
Inglish said people who own the homes the bus line tries to buy are asking inflated prices, the city of Orem is not overly anxious to help out with their powers of condemnation and residents in the neighborhood next to the mall are blaming the buses for many problems that just come with growth and change.
"We're sort of at everyone's mercy," said Inglish, responding to questions about how the bus service is feeling about the negative reaction its received to buses cutting through the 1100 South area.
"We have absolutely no leverage. We are simply a service provider, providing for 9,000 people a day in that area. We have no power of eminent domain."
Inglish said UTA officials are working very hard to secure property for a transit center within the same area.
"It would do us no good to locate in an out-of-the-way location," he said.
Inglish said a meeting is set for the first part of the coming week to try and work out a more permanent solution. Currently the mall has agreed to allow the buses to make turnaround loops on the mall property after 9:30 p.m. and before 9:30 a.m., giving residents of the neighborhood a respite from bus noise and traffic in the late night and early morning.
However, at the end of that 90 days, Inglish isn't certain what will happen.
The UTA has several options for a transit site it is considering but nothing is secure yet, he said.
"The ideal situation was where we were at the mall but we've accepted the fact that we can't have that again," said Inglish.
Inglish said stopping on the roadways or intersection corners to pick up and let out customers near a major commercial site like the mall isn't the best approach because of the hazards involved to handicapped, elderly and very young riders.
"We don't want to be the bad guy here but we have a broad public responsibility."