This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2008, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Salt Lake City will press to expand the downtown free-fare zone for buses and trains to the Main Library, City Council members decided Tuesday.
The council signed off on an agreement to put $35 million toward TRAX light rail to Salt Lake City International Airport - branching off of the existing system at 400 West - but wrote into it a requirement that the Utah Transit Authority expand its free zone eastward on the University Line to take in the Library Station around 300 East. The UTA board will consider the agreement when it meets today.
Council members said it makes no sense to offer free rides to the city's courthouses and State Capitol but not the nearby library and City-County Building. "It seems ridiculous that it's not [free]," Councilman Luke Garrott said.
UTA development chief Mike Allegra told council members it would be difficult to enforce an expanded zone that takes in a part of the University TRAX line after it branches away from the north-south line to Sandy, and that it could be costly for the agency. It could get easier by the end of the year, though, when UTA begins using electronic payment cards that will allow for tracking of passengers' trip lengths.
Despite some City Council members' objections, the majority accepted UTA's decision not to put a TRAX stop at 2200 West on the rail line along North Temple Street to the airport. Several members said such a stop was critical for "city building" because it would allow thousands of employees in a nearby industrial zone to ride to work. Allegra said putting a stop there could force airport riders off of the trains because of added delay. The council reaffirmed its support for linking the airport line to existing TRAX lines on the east side of the Gateway District, instead of running it on a controversial new viaduct past a developing neighborhood along 600 West.
Garrott dropped his resistance to the favored 400 West alignment when UTA agreed to consider a dedicated bus lane for shuttles between North Temple and the transit hub at 250 S. 600 West, making the council unanimous. He said he was satisfied frequent shuttles could achieve his goal of encouraging transit use in the neighborhood.
The council also pledged to pursue negotiations with UTA on the demolition of the North Temple viaduct.