News

  • The TRAX light rail line was dedicated on December 4, with the first official day of operation on December 6. On December 4 there was one mishap with a computer that went bad in one of the light rail vehicles but otherwise everything was fine. The Utah Transit Authority offered free rides on Saturday, with waits up to 3 hours to get on the route (even at crush capacity). The dedication ceremony was well attended considering the cold weather and the 10 inches of snow that fell two days earlier.
  • The first day of regular operations of TRAX also went off well. The was many complaints due to overcrowding, and as predicted by many, the parking lots where full by 7:00am. The ABC affiliate 4Utah has run stories on the line everyday since Saturday, most of them being neutral to negative on the line. One of their reporters complained about the junk yards the line passed (this last for only 3 blocks) and the graffiti along a few blocks of the line near a bad area of town. Most of the riders where really positive about the line and are glad it is operation. On Tuesday the first Utah Jazz home game was held at the Delta Center which is at the northern terminus of the line. The trains where standing room only with Jazz fans heading for the game.
  • In a surprise move, the Salt Lake City Council will vote on Thursday, December 9, on whether to reverse its decision to kill the East/West light rail line. Deanna Seed, one of the four city council members that voted to kill the project has indicated that she will change her vote and support the line. During the December 7 city council meeting debate was heard on the decision, with a majority of the people supporting the light rail line. Since Novembers elections the anti-light rail forces have been very quiet, although a couple of them did show up at the meeting.