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Jed Boal ReportingWith a month to go before election day, supporters of Proposition 3 rolled out their campaign with the help of a new train. That's the measure that would raise money for new transportation projects.
It won't be long before Union Pacific trains will share the rails with double-decker FrontRunner commuter rail cars. UTA gave us the first look today as backers of Proposition 3 in Salt Lake County and a similar Opinion Question in Utah County started their campaign at the new Intermodal Hub.
The measure would increase the sales tax by one-quarter cent to fund rail and road projects. 25-percent of the money would go towards preservation of the Mountain View corridor; the rest would pay to accelerate various rail and road projects in both counties.
Jim Bennett, Campaign Manager: "All of those things will be sped up. All of them right now are planned. Most of them won't be completed until 2030 if we don't pass this measure. Some of them will be completed as quickly as 2015 if we do pass it."
In an exclusive Dan Jones Poll for KSL-TV, 60 percent of likely voters are supportive, but Jones said today money measures can be deceptive and there are a lot of issues pulling at our purse strings.
Supporters hope voters see road and rail development in both counties as a quality of life issue.
Larry Ellertson, Utah County Commissioner: "It doesn't matter who you are, or what you do, the investment in either of those will benefit everyone, whether you chose to use it or not."
Trax and the arrival of FrontRunner commuter rail are examples of transit success in Salt Lake.
John Inglish, Utah Transit Authority: "We've got an excellent regional highway system, but we've been behind in the development of a complimentary transit system. This is a big step in that direction."
The cars hold 150 people seated, 240 when they're packed in. When they go online in 18 months, they'll also be internet capable. Next month, we all get to decide how fast we want to keep riding in that direction.
Regardless of the outcome of the election, the Ogden to Salt Lake portion of FrontRunner should be ready for riders in early 2008.
