NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
UTAH TRANSIT AUTHORITY

RE:  Proposed December 2016 Service Changes. UTA is proposing several service changes to local ski bus service in Salt Lake County. Public Hearings will be held at the location listed below to discuss these proposed changes. The hearings are to gather feedback for changes to routes 951, 952, 953, 954, 990, 992, 960 and 962 in the Salt Lake City, Murray, Midvale and Sandy City areas.   

  Midvale City Hall
7505 South Holden Street
Midvale City, UT
Monday, October 3, 2016
4:30 to 6:30 p.m.

Sandy City Hall
Multi-Purpose Room
10000 South Centennial Parkway
Sandy, UT
Thursday, October 6, 2016
4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

At the hearing, the Utah Transit Authority will provide an opportunity for citizens, private transportation providers, public officials and interested agencies to comment on the proposed changes. To be included as part of the Public Hearing record, all comments must be postmarked or received by UTA no later than October 17, 2016. 

THE FORMAT FOR THE PUBLIC HEARINGS WILL BE AS FOLLOWS:

Open House to review and discuss proposal with UTA representatives; public comment accepted anytime during the Open House. 

To assure full participation at the hearing, accommodations for effective communication such as sign language interpreters, printed materials in alternative formats or a language interpreter for non-English speaking participants, must be requested at least five (5) working days prior to the date of the scheduled event.  Requests for ADA accommodations should be directed to UTA ADA Compliance Officer at 801-741- 8871 or dial 711 to make a relay call for deaf or hearing impaired persons.  To request a language interpreter, please contact the UTA Public Hearing Officer at 801-287-2270.

Written comments or email comments may be submitted to the following address: Erika Shubin, Utah Transit Authority, 669 West 200 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84101, or emailed directly to hearingofficer@rideuta.com. Phone calls and questions about the proposal may be directed to Chris Chesnut at 801-237-1959. All comments will become part of the public record if received by 5 p.m. on October 17, 2016.




Background Information:

UTA, in coordination with its ski resort partners in the Cottonwood Canyons, have identified a number of challenges with present ski bus service. These challenges include limited parking for ski bus riders outside of the Cottonwood Canyons, overcrowded ski buses, no midday ski bus service and inconsistent service frequency. These issues, in turn, promote auto traffic congestion in the canyons.  

In response to these challenges, UTA has developed a service proposal that would have the following impacts to Ski Bus service in the Cottonwood Canyons: 

-	Increase ski bus trips to 135 per day, seven days per week, a 35 percent increase over the current 100 trips per day
-	Provide all day ski bus service during ski season at 15 minute intervals during peak traffic times in the canyons and 30 minute service during the day, seven days per week
-	Increase the number of ski bus miles in the Cottonwood Canyons from 3,734 per day to 3,890 per day
-	Increase the number of ski bus hours in the Cottonwood Canyons from 184 hours per day to 227 hours per day
-	Increase the number of available parking stalls for ski bus passengers from 2,593 to 2,890, an 11 percent increase. This is made possible by rerouting some ski bus connections to serve the Murray Central TRAX/Murray FrontRunner Station and the Bingham Junction TRAX Station in Midvale

Proposals are as follows:  

Route 953 will provide 12 trips per day - six trips up Little Cottonwood Canyon in the a.m. hours and six trips down to Murray Central TRAX Station/Murray FrontRunner Station in the p.m. hours. Route 953 will also serve the 950 East 6600 South Park and Ride, the 6200 South and Wasatch Park and Ride, the Big Cottonwood Canyon Park and Ride, the Little Cottonwood Canyon Park and Ride, Snowbird and Alta.

Route 992, the name of which will be changed to route 994, will provide service to Snowbird and Alta from the Historic Sandy TRAX Station and operate every 15 minutes starting at 6:30 a.m. until 9:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. until 6 p.m.  It will also operate every 30 minutes between 9:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. Route 994 will also serve the 9400 South 2000 East Park and Ride and the Little Cottonwood Canyon Park and Ride.

Route 960, the name of which will be changed to route 972, will provide service to Solitude and Brighton from the Bingham Junction and Midvale Fort Union TRAX stations and operate every 15 minutes starting at 6:30 a.m. until 9:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. until 6 p.m.  It will also operate every 30 minutes between 9:30 a.m. and 3 p.m.  Route 972 will also serve the 6200 South and Wasatch Park and Ride and the Big Cottonwood Canyon Park and Ride. There will also be a night route leaving Brighton at 8:35 p.m.

Ski bus routes will be streamlined to three routes, routes 953, 992 and 972. Routes 951, 952 and 954 are proposed to be eliminated. Resources from these routes will be used to provide the proposed service increases. The above proposals also keep within UTA's existing resources for ski bus service and do not require additional funding. 

Additional information items:
Relevant information about the proposed changes will be available at the public hearings, on the UTA website at rideuta.com, or may be reviewed at the UTA's Corporate Headquarters at 669 West 200 South, Salt Lake City, Utah, until October 17, 2016. If commenting via mail, comments must be postmarked or received by UTA no later than 5 p.m. on October 17, 2016 to be part of the public hearing record. 




 
							Jerry Benson
							President/CEO
							Utah Transit Authority