The Utah Transit Authority is offering deeply discounted fares for groups on FrontRunner trains this summer in an effort to boost ridership.

The agency is offering a "Party of Four" pass that allows up to four people to ride round trip for any distance throughout any day of the trains' six-day service for $10. The normal one-way fare for an individual is $3 plus 50 cents per station, up to $6 for those riding the full length from Pleasant View to Salt Lake City.

The promotion lasts through an undetermined date at summer's end and comes as UTA has watched FrontRunner ridership plummet since the commuter line's opening in spring 2008. The trains carried up to 8,800 on weekdays when gas prices surged last summer, but declined to less than half that at times this spring.

"Summer is typically our off-season," UTA spokesman Gerry Carpenter said. "People are out of school, and a lot of people are off on vacations. We're just trying to encourage ridership in our off months."

Any group up to four -- including a single rider -- may buy the pass at the train platform's vending machines, and it's a potential money saver even for an individual. Someone riding alone from Ogden to Salt Lake City and back normally would pay $11, but can save a dollar with the group pass.

Brandon Loomis