Estimated read time: 4-5 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 Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information.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.
SALT LAKE CITY — A decade ago, Peter Bailey used to do his homework as a senior at the University of Utah during his commute from West Haven, Weber County, on a brand-new FrontRunner train.
Wednesday, the day before the Utah Transit Authority celebrates the 10th anniversary of the commuter rail line, Bailey was waiting midday at the North Temple station to return to his office in Ogden after a meeting in Salt Lake City.
Now an attorney for a lending company, Bailey said he still chooses to ride FrontRunner rather than driving into Salt Lake City, something he did daily as an undergrad until the rail line opened in 2008.
"I hate it. You never know when there's an accident. It's bumper to bumper," Baily said of commuting by car. His biggest issue with traveling by train is not having a flexible schedule.
Kayti Patterson of Sandy, who's been taking a 45-minute FrontRunner ride to and from her multi-level marketing job in Bountiful daily for about a year, also said she has no complaints.
"I love it," Patterson said after removing her earphones during a rare midday commute due to a doctor's appointment. "It's just quiet time without having to deal with the stress of traffic."
Driving would take a little less time and free her from being tied to the train schedule, she said, but that's not enough to make it worth getting behind the wheel every day.
"I can just feel myself clench my teeth," Patterson said of the thought of being stuck in traffic.
Commuters, of course, make up the bulk of the 18,000 FrontRunner passengers on an average day, UTA commuter rail general manager Bruce Cardon said, including those like Patterson who make a "reverse commute" out of the Salt Lake area.
Thursday, UTA is celebrating the decade since the train's first phase opened on April, 26, 2008, by handing out free smartphone grips and other items at FrontRunner stations from 6:30 to 8:30 a.m. and 4 to 6 p.m., while supplies last.
The anniversary marks the opening of FrontRunner's first, northbound phase connecting Salt Lake with Ogden that took nearly three years to build and cost $613 million.
Work got underway later in 2008 on the $870 million southbound phase to Provo that opened in December 2013. There are still hopes of someday extending the line to both Brigham City and Santaquin, Cardon said.
Back in 2002, UTA secured 175 miles of existing railroad right-of-way for future projects, allowing the transit agency to operate on its own tracks rather than sharing them with other trains.
Cardon said it may be more important for FrontRunner's future to improve the existing system by adding another set of tracks and electrifying the trains now pulled by diesel locomotives, a switch that will improve air quality.
A study set to be released in August will detail those improvements, including what's expected to be a higher price tag and a longer construction schedule than for the original project because service will continue through the project, he said.
Related story:
UTA to suspend FrontRunner service to Pleasant View
The Utah Transit Authority announced Thursday it will suspend FrontRunner service from Ogden to Pleasant View beginning in August."We look back and feel really great about the success we've had over the first 10 years. But we recognize there's a lot more to do," Cardon said, calling FrontRunner a "great commuter system ahead of its time."
According to UTA, more than 31 million riders have taken more than 180,000 trips on red, white and blue FrontRunner trains that operate six days a week, for a total of more than 10 million miles over the past decade.
Decisions about FrontRunner will be made by the new UTA governance structure approved by the 2018 Utah Legislature that replaces the top bosses and trustees with a three-member management team appointed by the governor before November.
The sweeping legislation passed last session also calls for renaming UTA the Transit District of Utah over time as resources allow, but Gov. Gary Herbert and others have said that should be reconsidered.
Cardon said he expects the transit agency's new leaders to identify where improvements can be made at UTA and FrontRunner represents "a great, great opportunity."
He said the FrontRunner study that's underway "is great timing so that that information is available to the new leaders at UTA so that they can use it and help" the commuter rail line move forward.
