But KSL News reports today that there is another cost for some Utahns who park their cars at TRAX parking lots to catch a train: crime.

In just two years at least 300 cars were stolen or vandalized. KSL says its also found reports of dozens of robberies, multiple acts of lewdness and sexual assaults.

Last January a woman was followed off the train after dark and raped at the edge of a TRAX parking lot. The police report says apparently no one was around to hear her cries for help.

Utah Transit Authority has 23 private police officers and has promised frequent patrols of those parking lots. But KSL reports that during an 18 hour period staking out lots, it logged only two brief UTA patrol car visits.

Nonetheless, UTA Police Chief Ross Larsen insists: "I feel like we are delivering for the safety of our passengers."

But KSL found that police logs in Salt Lake City, Murray, Midvale and Sandy reveal that in just two years, they've responded to TRAX lots more than 1,300 times.

That's nearly two incidents a day.

"Our primary focus is always the safety of our passengers as they travel," Larsen counters.

Actually, UTA told KSL that it devotes more of its law enforcement resources to making sure passengers pay. "If we take care of the little things, such as people who evade a fare, then other lawlessness is suppressed," Larson claims.

KSL found that in Denver, transit security goes further; authorities there have put up video surveillance cameras.

Larsen argues that cameras may not be all that effective in deterring parking lot crime. But KSL found that in Denver, crime dropped 312 percent with the video technology.

In Utah, the main crime fighting strategy is a twice-yearly campaign to stick yellow cards on windshields - twice a year. They remind riders to hide valuables and lock up.