UTA presents 2024 onboard survey: riders skew younger, lower income; walking dominates access/egress

Didi Murray of UTA’s long-range and strategic planning team presented highlights from UTA’s 2024 onboard survey, conducted February–April 2024. The survey fulfills Federal Transit Administration Title VI requirements and supplies demographic and trip-pattern inputs to travel-demand and ridership models.

Murray said the survey used a third-party consultant (RSG) and expanded sampling to include on-demand service (Via) and a small weekend sample. She reported consistent gender and age profiles with prior surveys: a majority of riders are male and over half are age 34 or younger. Murray said over half of surveyed riders report household incomes under $45,000 and that about 30 percent of respondents indicated no working vehicle was available in the household.

The nut graf: UTA reported that walking is the dominant access and egress mode—more than 80 percent of riders walk to and from transit—and that the share of zero-transfer trips increased by 5 percentage points compared with 2019; UTA noted on-demand service users in the sampled zones are typically more transit-dependent.

Murray said frequency of use remains concentrated—more than half of riders use the system five or more days per week though that share has declined modestly since 2019. She reported zero-transfer trips rose by five percentage points versus 2019 and that bus riders still rely on cash for about 15 percent of fares while electronic cards were the majority payment method.

On-demand service sampling (Via) yielded 74 origin–destination surveys from South Davis, Salt Lake City Westside, South Salt Lake County and Tooele. Murray said of those on-demand respondents 33 percent said they do not have a working vehicle in the household and 78 percent do not possess a driver’s license. Murray said weekend sampling was small (2 percent sample) and UTA plans to expand weekend sampling in the next survey cycle.

Ending: Murray said UTA conducts the onboard survey every four years and expects to expand sample sizes and weekend coverage in the next cycle in 2028. She invited follow-up questions and said UTA staff are available for inquiries after the meeting.