City reviews Transit Circulator Study and six-center Polycentric City vision

Consultants and city staff presented the Polycentric City Center Plan and Transit Circulator Study during the June 2 work session, saying the combined project is in its final stages and is expected to be completed by August 1. Patrick O'Brien introduced the team and J. Ryan Wallace summarized the plan’s framework, which identifies six distinct activity centers—Transit Center, Commercial Center, Downtown, East Gateway, Employment Center, and Recreation Center—to be linked by a cohesive multimodal system.

The study outlines two linked visions: a near-term focus on improving access to existing transit facilities (notably the Frontrunner Station) and a long-term plan to develop a circulator and fixed-route connections between the six activity centers as growth justifies. "The project was in its final stages, with completion targeted for August 1," Wallace told the Council. Mehrnaz Fereydouni said the study identified five primary transportation needs including Frontrunner connections, serving transit-dependent residents, and strengthening inter-center connectivity.

Consultants advised a phased strategy rather than a single, definitive solution. Short-term recommendations emphasize leveraging an upcoming Utah County microtransit zone to gather ridership data and improve access without major capital investment; longer-term alternatives include smaller circulators or a full citywide circulator once demand grows. Mayor Bradley J. Frost and staff framed the issue as a first- and last-mile challenge to help residents reach regional service. The consultants said their evaluation balanced projected ridership, operating costs, equity, and agency support, and stressed that final decisions on adoption and policy weight remain for the Council to consider when the draft is returned for formal review.