RIVERTON, Utah — UTA has a five-year, $1.3 million dollar Capital Plan, and not one dollar will go to improving transit in Riverton, Bluffdale, Herriman and South Jordan said Trent Staggs, Mayor of Riverton City.
“We are paying almost 30 million dollars in those four cities, in terms of our share of sales taxes, that go to UTA, and we're getting five to six million dollars worth of actual service," he said. "That's a problem.”
At a meeting earlier this month, UTA’s local advisory council recommended the Capital Plan for the Board of Trustees’ approval. Jay Fox, the Executive Director of UTA, pushed back on Mayor Staggs' criticism.
“Where we're at right now is we want to provide the type of transportation that meets the needs of the community," he said. “He can leave City Hall, and in eight minutes he'll be at Draper Station and go anywhere on the Front Runner network.”
Mayor Staggs would like to see UTA start with express buses going north and south on Redwood Road, with stops at major intersections in Riverton.
Riverton does have the on-demand, micro-transit service Via, which works like a rideshare app.
“Now we've put a bus literally on every corner and that service area, connecting people in a whole different way," said Fox.
Via is not enough for the cities in Salt Lake County's Southwest Valley, said Staggs.
“It's not really simple to hail a ride via Via, and there's only designated spots," he said. "They'll come and drop off. It's better than nothing.”
The population in Riverton, Herriman, Bluffdale and South Jordan is set to double over the next few decades, said Staggs.
“We want to see, I think, fewer cars on the road, less congestion," he said. "That's going to improve our air quality. And so this is an issue not just for those in my city, and in my part of the County, but County and even statewide.”
