RIVERTON, Utah — Riverton residents like Steve Smith can’t help but notice how much things have changed.
“Grown so much in the last 25 years," he said. "For sure. Not even the same place as we moved to 25 years ago.”
There’s one thing that hasn’t changed: the city still doesn’t have any UTA bus stops or rail stations, Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs said.
“South Jordan, Riverton, Herriman, Bluffdale are the same population as Salt Lake City," he said. "When you consider persons per square mile, we actually have more people per square mile here than Salt Lake City.”
Utah Transit Authority is laying out its vision for the future, sharing its Five Year Service Plan with the public and inviting Utahns to take a Transit Needs Survey. Currently, Riverton only has the micro-transit service Via which gets limited use, but UTA collects more than $6 million from Riverton in sales tax revenue each year, Staggs said.
“I want to highlight the discrepancy and just the blatant — I think inequity — that we have here in this part of the valley," he said. "We all pay sales tax as well that goes to fund UTA services, but we’re getting such a small amount.”
The closest bus and train stations are about two miles away from Riverton: South Jordan to the north and Draper to the east.
Anthony Heaton, another Riverton resident, says his job offers employees free transportation for taking the bus.
“I work downtown, so it’d be nice if they had a stop, and especially if we’re paying for it through our taxes," he said.
With traffic seemingly getting worse every day, Heaton said Riverton residents would take advantage of public transit.
“People that are aware of the environment would use it, and hopefully reduce traffic because it’s getting busier on 114 and 118," he said.
In response to Staggs' feedback, UTA put out the following statement:
"The Utah Transit Authority (UTA) is a public transit district, prioritizing and delivering safe and reliable transit services to our customers along the Wasatch Front.
"In order to provide these public transportation services, UTA examines data such as ridership trends, residential housing density, daytime population, operational capacity and customer feedback to determine a strategic and holistic approach to delivering transit choices systemwide.
"Other factors that determine modes of transit include job density, mix of land uses, student population, number of persons with disabilities, zero-car households, income levels and tourism.
"Mayor Trent Staggs (Riverton City) sits as a member of the Local Advisory Council for UTA. Mayor Staggs, along with all other Council members, will receive updates related to current and planned systemwide service delivery and recommended transit modes at the Council’s meeting on November 2, 2022."
