SANDY — Near 2100 East, Diana Javier turned her 15-seater off the main drag — 9400 South — and headed into a neighborhood of newish, stucco-brick homes that pretty much all look alike.
She eased up to the curb of one home and the doors of her bus, one of those Utah Transit Authority buses that looks like a hotel-airport shuttle bus, swung open.
"Hi!" she said to the rider. "I'm sorry I'm running a little bit late."
"You're not late," the rider said.
Minutes later, the bus was back on 9400 South, which is the normal route. Javier's side-trip into the neighborhood was what's called in the transportation industry a "deviation." And in coming months, UTA will introduce additional deviated routes along the Wasatch Front. Small buses and vans will deviate into neighborhoods that are within three-quarters of a mile of a regular route.
In UTA-speak, they will be called "Flex" routes. (Not to be confused with Flex Trans, what UTA used to call paratransit service in Salt Lake County. It abandoned the term several years ago.)
All Flex routes are identified with the letter "F" before the route number. For instance, the route Javier drove recently was the F94, a circular route between the 9000 South TRAX station and a park-and-ride lot at 9400 South and 2000 East that UTA has offered since August 2007, said UTA spokesman Gerry Carpenter.
Monday, UTA began the F518 in Riverton and the F546 in Draper. On Sept. 8, service will begin on the F400 in Tooele and the F-401 in Grantsville. Since Grantsville has a small population, the bus picks people up on request only and does not run regular service throughout the day. Maps of the specific routes can be found at rideuta.com. Riders need to call UTA at least two hours before they want the bus to pick them up. The service costs $1 in addition to the regular fare. If riders have regular monthly transit passes, they must pay the bus driver $1 and flash the pass. People who qualify for paratransit service receive a free bus pass for regular buses and will only have to pay $1 for the deviated route, Carpenter said.
UTA will introduce the routes as it limits service to paratransit riders. Paratransit vehicles pick up disabled people who qualify for the service at their homes, but the service costs UTA $15 million a year, which UTA General Manager John Inglish has said is not affordable with the recession and decreased sales tax revenues that fund UTA's operations. Inglish has proposed limiting paratransit service to only those riders who live within three-quarters of a mile of a fixed bus route that runs all day or a bus rapid transit stop. The disabled community complained, and the Flex routes are something of a compromise.
About 4,000 riders qualify for all or some paratransit service based on physical, cognitive or visual disabilities.
But the routes aren't only for the disabled. Anyone can request the service. Perhaps you don't want to trudge through the snow, or have a new pair of stilettos you don't want to scuff.
Stephen Prince of West Jordan has been riding the F94 for about a year. It deviates about a block to the front doors of Alta View Hospital, where he volunteers once a week. While the F94 is a convenience for Prince, he thinks most riders will find a bus that deviates to be a pain. Riders who don't need a deviation will be waiting as a bus winds through neighborhoods and takes extra time getting to the destination. "It's a waste of time," he said.
Prince would prefer UTA not eliminate its paratransit service.
UTA's first Flex route began in 2006 in Brigham City. Low ridership on buses in the area made UTA planners consider discontinuing service in the area. But city officials asked for a community circulator to help folks get to popular sites around the town, such as the city-county offices and library, the courthouse and the Brigham City Community Hospital. UTA planners designed the F638 for small buses, and it has been a success.
Small buses and vans are assigned to deviated routes. "It's more fuel-efficient," Carpenter said. "It's easier to drive."
UTA driver Chris Brine said the F94 route would normally take about 12 minutes to drive, if a driver sticks to the regular route. But since it's a flex route, UTA has scheduled drivers to take about 20 minutes on the route.
Drivers are given a detailed map of the three-quarter-mile radius to which they may deviate. Deviations make the job more interesting for the drivers. "It adds variation," Brine said.
e-mail: lhancock@desnews.com
TWITTER: laurahancock