UTA moving ahead on bus service

EAGLE MOUNTAIN — Bringing Eagle Mountain and Saratoga Springs into the Utah Transit Authority District won't be used as a wedge to get the rest of Utah County in, UTA board President Larry Ellertson said at a Friday public hearing.

However, if voters pass the ballot measure on Nov. 4 to bring the two cities into the district, the county commission will go to work encouraging the Legislature to allow commissioners to bring in the rest of the county.

The public hearing at the Eagle Mountain City Hall was another step toward getting bus service between the two cities and Salt Lake City.

A quarter-cent sales tax will be assessed to subsidize the service if approved. UTA will then begin express bus service twice daily, possibly by April, after an interlocal agreement gains approval between the UTA and the two cities.

Several residents said they are already paying the tax when they shop outside of Eagle Mountain and Saratoga Springs in towns that have the service.

The Mountainland Association of Governments is offering the two cities $200,000 a year in federal grant money for the next three years to help establish the route. By then, a link to a new FrontRunner commuter station at Thanksgiving Point should be in operation, boosting the service, UTA attorney Bruce T. Jones said.

Most residents at the hearing supported the plan for the two cities to join the district, so the UTA board agreed to move forward by consensus. A comment period continues for 30 days.

However, two residents dissented, with one noting that all residents will have to pay for it if the ballot measure passes, but not all will use it.

"That is a socialistic concept, and I won't support it," one said.

Another resident compared the situation to school taxes. She said she has no children in school but pays for schools anyway through her property taxes and is OK with that.

Brandon Clark of Saratoga Springs said he doubted 25 percent of the residents would use the bus service. But Ellertson said those who don't use it will still benefit with reduced congestion.

Lehi, which gets the brunt of the Saratoga Springs and Eagle Mountain traffic, could see traffic drop by some 15 percent, Jones said.

"Not a majority will ride it, (but it) is an investment in the future," Ellertson said.

Other residents said the bus service now in place to Salt Lake City is overcrowded.

Another worried that an express bus service may bring criminal activity to Eagle Mountain, but board member Keith Bartholomew responded, "If they're going to steal your DVD player, they're not going to wait for the bus."

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E-mail: rodger@desnews.com

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