On Tuesday Forbes ranked Salt Lake City the best city in the country for commuters.

"In Salt Lake City 20 percent of workers find a way to get to work besides driving alone, which leaves the roads less jammed. It's not an accident that commuters in Salt Lake have it better than elsewhere. The state of Utah has poured resources into initiatives that strengthen the city's infrastructure, including 44 miles of 'hot lanes,' carpool lanes that single-occupancy drivers can use for a fee, expediting their trip, and special road-construction techniques that minimize interruptions to traffic," the Forbes story says. "There are a few elements that easy-commuting cities have in common. In those places, more workers take advantage of public transportation, walk or bike; sprawl is minimal so that workers tend to live closer to their offices; and the incidence of travel delays is low."

Public Transportation

Indeed, on any given weekday approximately 141,000 people will ride on Utah's public transit system. That may not seem like many, until you consider that some 38 million riders boarded Utah's public transportation system in 2009.

What's more, public transportation ridership is expected to increase by 40 percent come 2015, when the Utah Transit Authority (UTA) completes its $2.4 billion Front Lines 2015 program -- "One of the biggest, most aggressive, and most successful rail expansion program in the country right now," says UTA spokesman Gerry Carpenter. "One of the reasons we are ranked so high by Forbes is because we have such a comprehensive transportation system. It's a balanced approach with good roads, a solid mass transit system, and people who are willing to try a variety of alternatives, such as biking, carpooling, and telecommuting. All of those things factor in to why we got that ranking."

As one of the fastest growing states in the nation, Utah will see its population explode by more than one million residents by 2030, with the majority of those new residents locating along the Wasatch Front. UTA's expansion program could not come too soon.

"Transportation alternatives are essential to a prosperous economic future for the state," says EDCUtah President & CEO Jeff Edwards, "and public transportation is the most economical, environmentally friendly approach to meeting the needs of our growing population."

Travel Demand

Currently, travel demand is increasing about four percent each year, according to the UTA, which means by 2030 the amount of daily vehicle trips will have doubled compared to today. To help meet transportation demands, in 2004 local-elected officials along the Wasatch Front suggested accelerating UTA's 2030 Long-range Transportation Plan. The approach was presented to voters in Salt Lake and Utah counties, and in 2006 voters approved a quarter-cent sales tax increase to finance the design, construction and operation of 70 miles of new light rail and commuter rail track that were included in UTA's Long-range Plan.

Those 70 miles of new rail make up UTA's Front Lines 2015 project, which consists of five new lines: FrontRunner commuter rail between Salt Lake City and Provo, the Mid-Jordan Light Rail Line, the West Valley Light Rail Line, the Airport Light Rail Line and the Draper Light Rail Line. All five projects will be completed and in full operation by the year 2015, 15 years ahead of UTA's original schedule.

When complete, the Front Lines 2015 project will offer travelers easy connections to downtown Salt Lake City, the University of Utah, West Valley, South Jordan, and Draper. Furthermore, the project will offer commuters a high-speed transit option that is a viable alternative to the automobile, which will increase overall mobility in Salt Lake and Utah Counties.

Mid-Jordan TRAX

The Mid-Jordan TRAX Line is a 10.6 mile light rail line that will run through the cities of Murray, Midvale, West Jordan and South Jordan, terminating at Kennecott Land's Daybreak development. Eighty percent of this project is being paid for with federal money. The line has a projected ridership of nearly 19,000 per day for the section of rail between 6400 South and Daybreak South by 2030. From Daybreak South to downtown Salt Lake City, ridership for the line is projected between 25,000 and 30,000 passengers per day.

West Valley TRAX

The West Valley City TRAX Line is a five mile line running from South Salt Lake past the E Center in West Valley City and terminating just west of the West Valley City Hall. The new line will offer commuters a high-speed transit option that is a viable alternative to the automobile, with improved transit travel times, less traffic congestion, and greater accessibility in West Valley City, Utah's second largest municipality.

Draper TRAX

The Draper TRAX Line extends current light rail service through Sandy and Draper. UTA just released a draft environmental impact statement for the project. UTA is seeking federal funding for eighty percent of this project; however, final funding will not be approved until the environmental study has been completed with the Federal Transit Administration.

Airport TRAX

The Airport TRAX Line is a 6-mile light rail extension that will connect with the existing TRAX system at the Arena Station, located at 400 West and South Temple, near Energy Solutions Arena. When completed in 2012 or 2013, the Airport TRAX Line, combined with the University TRAX Line, will connect the top three trip generators in the entire state of Utah (the airport, University of Utah and downtown Salt Lake City).

Carpenter says the project is roughly 20 percent complete now. Construction on the section with the most impact to travelers is set to get underway in mid-April when crews demolish the North Temple viaduct. Construction of the new viaduct and TRAX line will occur over an 18 month period. UTA was planning to build a structure that ran parallel to the viaduct, however, Salt Lake City officials wanted to rebuild the viaduct. Consequently, UTA and the city are collaborating on that portion of construction. Concurrent with the building of the Airport TRAX line, Salt Lake City is planning to incorporate "Great Street" principles into North Temple Street, highlighting it as a gateway into the city by upgrading lighting, pedestrian and bicycle amenities, and public art.

UTA anticipates that by year 2030, the Airport TRAX line will carry more than 14,000 passengers per day. Its projected cost: $250-290 million during the years of expenditure (2009-2012).

FrontRunner South

FrontRunner Provo to Salt Lake City line (aka FrontRunner South) will provide high-speed commuter rail service between downtown Salt Lake City and Provo, in Utah County. Carpenter says construction is proceeding well and approximately 25 percent complete. The anticipated opening is late 2012 or early 2013. Construction on the project has a number of unusual engineering challenges. For example, widening the Jordan Narrows -- that narrow stretch of river bottom where the Jordan River flows from Utah County into Salt Lake County -- must be done in stages in order to keep irrigation water flowing through the area. Carpenter says the Narrows will be widened to accommodate a second rail line for Union Pacific and two FrontRunner lines, although only one FrontRunner line will be built as part of the 2015 Project. The project requires the construction of 20 different bridges or "fly-overs" -- ten times as many as constructed for the FrontRunner line to Ogden.

The FrontRunner South line will feature six new stations and two future stations:

• Murray (west of the existing Murray Central TRAX station)
• South Jordan
• Draper (future station)
• Lehi
• American Fork
• Vineyard (future station)
• Orem
• Provo

In October 2009, UTA received notification of a $250,000 award from the Federal Transit Administration for design and engineering of the new intermodal transit center in Orem. The $10 million center is planned to include a Frontrunner station, 14 bus bays and amenities such as shelters, benches, bike facilities, ticket vending machines, and 400 parking stalls.

Although FrontRunner South's terminus is located in Provo, crews have constructed a floodplain south of Provo in Springville, Utah, to offset wetlands impacts related to building commuter rail in Utah County. In cooperation with the June Sucker Recovery Implementation Program and other agencies, this project was constructed adjacent to a new Hobble Creek channel, a tributary to Utah Lake, and will replace major wetlands functions and vegetation and provide a protected nursery habitat for newly hatched June sucker fish.

Free Ride Friday

Carpenter says the Frontlines 2015 program has drawn the attention of transit officials from across the country – "A lot of people come to Utah to see what we are doing."

It has also draw the attention of local residents, especially interested in such events as Free Ride Friday, which occurred Feb. 12. UTA offered free transit throughout its six county service area for one day only as part of a special Learn to Ride promotion supporting Utah's "Clean Air Challenge," which has been endorsed by Utah Governor Gary Herbert, Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker and mayors from across the Wasatch Front.

"Air quality is an ongoing concern and we want to encourage people to change their lifestyles, to think about how they travel, and consider public transit or other alternatives to driving single occupancy vehicles," says Carpenter. "Obviously, we hope they will come back and ride public transit more frequently, as well as make a commitment to drive less. It will take a commitment from everyone living along the Wasatch Front to be more conscious about how they travel in order to improve our air quality."