UTA riders are a demanding lot. They are sensitive to their time schedules, they value safety and privacy, they don't like stress and they want comfort.
UTA riders also tend to own cars but choose to take transit to and from work out of a desire to help the environment.
These are just a few of the findings from a new market study, the most extensive the Utah Transit Authority has ever done and the most advanced ever in the United States by a transit agency, say UTA administrators. It is part of their plan to totally recreate the transit system in Salt Lake County by fall 2005 and is the most radical change of UTA's transit system in 30 years.
"We've taken a very in-depth approach to this thing," said UTA Salt Lake regional manager David Huber. Already one year into the study, Huber said UTA has one more year before changes begin.
Consultants were hired to conduct "psychographic" studies, looking into the psychology of what motivates UTA riders to take the bus or TRAX.
Huber said there were some surprising findings. People who took express buses were 98 percent likely to own a car, 84 percent of TRAX riders owned a car while local bus riders were the lowest in car ownership at 67 percent. While Utah has a high percentage of car owners, Huber said the study also found a willingness by Utahns to take transit compared to other transit markets in other states.
The study also showed that half of UTA riders, both bus and TRAX, use transit to get to work; 25 percent use it to get to school or college; and 15 percent use it to meet medical appointments, shopping and other recreation. Ten percent of riders used UTA for other reasons.
Where do UTA riders live? Depends on how much time they have to get to work. Those riders who have more time to commute tend to live in the areas of Federal Heights, the Avenues and east bench neighborhoods close to the University of Utah. Those under a tighter commuter crunch who take UTA live in areas around West Valley City, West Jordan, Bluffdale and southeast Salt Lake County, in places like Draper.
But with a steady decline in bus ridership over the last five years and with a mandate from UTA's board of directors to increase ridership 20 percent over the next five years, Huber said radical changes must be made.
That's no small task, considering UTA's Salt Lake Valley system covers more than 800 square miles and has 455 buses that cover 6,300 bus stops on 101 fixed routes. With a weekday ridership of 55,000 each day, Huber said the Salt Lake Valley system alone is ranked 40th in North America.
"We are developing a new route system that will hopefully be more efficient and more productive," Huber said.
UTA marketing director Andrea Packer said the goal is to have a plan finalized by next spring with an implementation date set in August. In the months in between, Packer said UTA will begin a "significant information campaign" to educate the public on the changes, as well as hold public hearings. Already, community leaders from various city and government agencies have sat on an oversight committee.
Although it is still in the early stages, Packer said UTA riders should be prepared for the cancellation of some routes while others will be beefed up to offer one bus every 15 minutes. Small "mini-express" bus routes might be offered, Huber said.
Packer said people used to their old bus routes and times should be prepared for a radically different system.
E-mail: gfattah@desnews.com