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SALT LAKE CITY — Anyone with a flight to or from Salt Lake City International Airport can ride Utah Transit Authority services for free — at least for the next three months.
The agency announced details of the promotion Friday but it went into effect this week. Riders with a valid boarding pass for the day of their flight can use all services, excluding the Park City to Salt Lake City Connect and Paratransit. It means a boarding pass covers the fare for bus, TRAX, FrontRunner, S-Line Streetcar, Ski Bus and UTA on Demand services.
A traveler with a boarding pass, either printed or on a cellphone, can show the pass to a bus driver or fare inspector for proof of payment, according to the agency.
The plan was first announced during an Oct. 25 ceremony to open UTA's new Airport Station at the end of its TRAX Green Line. The promotion, which will last through Jan. 31, 2022, serves as an incentive for airline passengers to try out the service to and from the airport. It will also run during two busy travel holidays, Thanksgiving and Christmas.
"We are excited to open the new TRAX Airport Station just outside of the new terminal. Travelers can conveniently ride UTA from almost anywhere between Provo and Ogden and easily connect to the TRAX Green Line to get to or from the airport," said Carlton Christensen, chairman of UTA's Board of Trustees.
While UTA ridership remains down during the COVID-19 pandemic, the agency reports it is slowly on the rebound. It estimates it had nearly 100,000 average weekday boardings across all services in September, which is the most it has recorded since March 2020.
Carl Arky, UTA's spokesperson, told KSL.com last week that he believes the trend will continue as more services become available. That includes traveling to the airport with uninterrupted service.
"Hopefully we'll see an uptick now that people know it's going to be a little bit more convenient — or maybe a lot more convenient — just to hop on the Green Line and ride it all the way out here," he said.
