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Posted: 9:16 PM- The Utah Transit Authority says its new bus routes through Salt Lake County offer better service to poor and minority neighborhoods.
It's a claim that seemed unthinkable last summer when thousands of riders and activists for the poor lashed the agency over its plans to redraw the maps, and the review from advocates remains mixed. But after responding to those complaints and altering most of the proposed routes accordingly, UTA now reports in a nondiscrimination review that its redesign is a boon to those who rely on it the most.
For one thing, officials say, a dozen routes now run every 15 minutes, compared to just two before last year's changes.
"I'm often a critic," Salt Lake City-appointed UTA Board member Keith Bartholomew said. But he was pleasantly persuaded by the staff's review, meant to ensure the agency uses federal dollars in compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.
The review singles out Rose Park, West Valley City and South Salt Lake as areas with significant needs among low-income and minority riders. In each case bus trips through those neighborhoods have increased - by more than 300 every weekday in South Salt Lake's case. Weekday Rose Park trips increased by 42, to 409.
"As a result of the bus redesign bus service to Title VI areas is enhanced," according to the agency report.
Some aren't so sure of that. Kearns riders, in particular, have squawked to community leaders since the changes.
Kearns Community Council chairman Chuck McDowell said the unincorporated community won some improved service into Salt Lake City but lost some local stops in the mix.
What Kearns got out of the redesign was the mixed blessing of more rapid or express buses into Salt Lake City, he said. "There's three buses in the morning and three in the late afternoon and evening. The people who are disadvantaged are the people who have to travel at other times."
The complaint that many of UTA's added bus trips are commuter-friendly expresses with fewer neighborhood stops is a common thread among advocates for the needy. "Which is not to say we're opposed to those [commuter routes], but we think low-income people tend to rely more than other segments of the population on traditional neighborhood service," said Bill Tibbitts of the Anti-Hunger Action Coalition.
Critics point to 700 East as a route that bypasses neighborhood stops in favor of long-haul commuters. UTA counters that other new routes, such as the every-15-minute service along 3500 South from West Valley City, help needy customers. Some areas of the valley need peak-hour commuter buses, spokeswoman Carrie Bohnsack-Ware said.