Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Transit topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council reviews Addendum No. 10 with UTA to continue city‑sponsored frequent bus service
Summary
Salt Lake City staff and UTA briefed the council on Addendum No. 10 to the 2019 interlocal agreement, which would fund roughly 455,000 miles of city‑sponsored service and requires a $6.2 million city subsidy for the coming year, down slightly from the prior addendum due to rising ridership.
Salt Lake City transportation staff and the Utah Transit Authority presented Addendum No. 10 to the 2019 interlocal agreement that sponsors increased frequency and extended hours on several Salt Lake routes. Kira Luke, a council policy analyst, opened the briefing with a reminder that the contract sets out a 20‑year partnership framework with annual addenda specifying routes and costs.
Lynn Jacobs, the city transportation director, told the council the addendum covers the city’s sponsored routes and noted how the agreement shifts cost responsibility as ridership increases. “Fundamentally, the way this agreement works is that as ridership goes up … our subsidy actually goes down, and UTA takes on more of the cost of the service,” Jacobs said. She presented the addendum’s topline figures: 455,000 miles of city‑sponsored service and a city contribution of $6,200,000 for the next year.
Nicole Bordeaux of UTA described ridership trends on the sponsored lines and credited the city–UTA partnership with boosting use. “Our bus service is above a 100% of ridership pre pandemic, and that’s unheard of,” Bordeaux said, adding that sponsored frequent service helps connect residents across east–west corridors and to major destinations like the University of Utah.
Council members pressed staff on how routes are selected and whether the city could expand frequent service to other corridors. UTA said corridor selection balances propensity (population density) and productivity (projected ridership) and noted that the transit network is shifting from a hub‑and‑spoke model to a city grid. Staff said the addendum includes Routes 1, 2, 9 and 21 as currently sponsored lines and that rising ridership has reduced the city’s per‑mile subsidy relative to previous addenda.
The presentation closed with staff offering to share the city’s five‑year planning priorities for future sponsored route investments. The council did not take a final vote on the addendum during the work session; the item was presented for briefing and follow‑up information.
