Utah: A national model and blueprint for the future

Utah: A national model and blueprint for the future

(Shutterstock)


Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

You put together a design before you build your home. You figure out how much money to save before you retire. We all look ahead for the important things in life to make sure we're investing appropriately and making the right decisions.

Well, did you know that Utahns also have a plan that provides a blueprint for our transportation needs for the next 25 years? If implemented, this plan will improve our air quality, support our growing economy and enhance our overall quality of life. This plan would create more than 182,618 jobs and generate $130.5 billion in additional income to Utah households.

Utah: A national model and blueprint for the future

It's called Utah's Unified Transportation Plan.

Utah's Unified Transportation Plan is the first-of-its-kind nationally and is founded upon principles of good stewardship. It has been recognized as a national model for collaboration. It identifies the balanced investments in road, transit and bike infrastructure that are needed across the state.

So, not only do we know what road, transit and bike projects we'll need to build in the future but we also know exactly what it'll cost to maintain what we already have. This is extremely important given that our population is expected to double by 2050.

Twice as many people means nearly twice as many miles driven on our roads. It means more goods and services to be delivered, more employees commuting to work and more errands to run.

However, Utah's future growth relies upon a transportation infrastructure that current funding mechanisms no longer adequately support. This structural imbalance in how we pay for transportation investment is because Utah's motor fuel tax has lost nearly 50 percent of its purchasing power since 1997. Fortunately, the discussion in the current legislative session to increase the gas tax is returning lost value from decades of inaction and is a step in the right direction.

Funding and implementing the Unified Transportation Plan will prevent deficient transportation conditions and will save Utah's households and businesses more than $84.8 billion in reduced congestion, reduced vehicle operating costs, improved reliability of Utah's transportation systems and improved safety and air quality.

Photo credit: Shutterstock

In short, Utah's Unified Transportation Plan is a blueprint for the future of transportation across the state. Here in Utah, that's what we do. We look ahead, we make a plan, we act on that plan, and we all benefit from that plan. Because when the transportation system works the way it should, you don't notice it — you shouldn't notice it. That's what having a plan is all about.

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

BrandviewUtah
Utah Transportation Coalition

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast