Stephanie Love is a big fan of FrontRunner.

The Layton resident uses the commuter train to get to her job at Orbit Irrigation Products Inc. in North Salt Lake's industrial park.

Only problem is, there's no bus to get her from the Woods Cross station at 750 S. 800 West to Orbit at 845 N. Overland Drive, so a co-worker gives her a ride for the final leg of her trip.

"I can read, relax, snooze," Love says of her 25-minute train ride she adopted in May when FrontRunner began operating. The round-trip costs her $40 per week or $2,000 per year, but Love says it's worth it. She and her husband sold one of their cars and got rid of the loan payment, insurance, gas and requisite repairs, not to mention the stress of rush-hour traffic.

As part of a go-green effort, Orbit hopes to offer discounted UTA Eco Passes to workers who use FrontRunner. For Love, it would cut her annual commuting cost to a paltry $70.

"We're making a commitment that would not be cheap," says Lynda Steed, executive assistant to Orbit's CEO. "We want to support the environment and help our associates."

How it works: Orbit would commit to purchasing passes for all of its 300 employees and UTA sells the bundle at $70 per pass, which would give the user unlimited access to FrontRunner, TRAX and bus service. Employees who want to tap the service would each pay Orbit $70 to get their passes. Then Orbit absorbs the cost of any unused passes.

While attractive in theory, Orbit is having second thoughts.

An in-company survey identified 46 employees who said they would need a ride from the station if they used FrontRunner.

"UTA doesn't offer the [connecting] service we need," Steed says. "This is really the main impediment for us to get Eco Passes."

The distance from the Woods Cross station to Orbit is about two miles, Steed says, but some segments of that journey lack sidewalks and cross dangerous intersections, making it unfriendly to pedestrians and bicyclists.

The transit need extends well beyond Orbit's 300 employees, says North Salt Lake Mayor Shanna Schaefermeyer.

"About 8,000 people work in that industrial park," Schaefermeyer says, adding that more than 80 percent of them travel from cities to the north and south.

Foxboro, a subdivision west of North Salt Lake's industrial park, has mushroomed to 5,000 residents who also need bus service, Schaefermeyer adds. And neighboring South Davis County cities have thriving commercial hubs that could also benefit from east-west bus connections to FrontRunner.

"You can't design the bus system in Davis to take people out only," Schaefermeyer says. "I'm advocating a loop system."

Earlier this month, Utah Transit Authority held three open houses to get feedback from the public on new bus routes. UTA spokeswoman Carrie Bohnsack-Ware lives in Foxboro, so understands the need firsthand.

"As it is right now, bus service in South Davis is pretty sparse," Bohnsack-Ware says. Current service provides four largely north-south routes.

Ridership on FrontRunner has exceeded UTA's expectations, reaching 8,700 riders per average weekday in August. When Legacy Parkway opened, that figure dropped to 8,200, still well beyond the predicted 6,000, Bohnsack-Ware says.

The nation's economic crisis caused sales tax revenues and fuel surcharge dollars to shrink, limiting what UTA can offer.

"We don't have any money to beef up bus service right now," Bohnsack-Ware said. "But we can at least get an idea of what people want. There's a possibility that, down the road, we can work some things in to connect to FrontRunner."

cmckitrick@sltrib.com