Rep. Wayne Harper, R-West Jordan, wants to revive the aims of HB166, which died this past winter when he was unable to provide answers to basic questions about his bill and what exactly about UTA dissatisfied him.
During the Wednesday meeting of the Transportation Interim Committee, Harper said he wanted to "improve" the way highway and transit projects are ranked, evaluate whether transit fares are optimal, how to increase ridership and analyze the way UTA runs its transit services.
"There is a concern and perception that UTA is moving from a bus system . . . into a rail system," Harper said, suggesting that perhaps bus and rail should be separated.
This past legislative session, Harper said he sponsored HB166 in pursuit of greater administrative and financial efficiency for what he sees as a statewide, not local, service. But when committee chairman Rep. Fred Hunsaker, R-Logan, asked Harper to explain the bill's multimillion-dollar fiscal note, he couldn't.
On Wednesday, Rep. Curtis Oda, R-Clearfield, supported Harper's renewed quest, saying he found UTA unresponsive to Clearfield community concerns about where to locate a commuter rail stop.
UTA officials responded to Harper's presentation by noting UTA is one of only two transit agencies in the United States that has a triple-A bond rating and that its board was made up of elected officials, former elected officials, educators, a transportation commission member and other professionals.
"We think a chaotic situation would come" if Harper's proposal were to move forward, said UTA Board of Directors Chairman Orrin Colby. "When something's functioning very well it's probably not the time to mess with it."
No one on the committee asked any of the several UDOT officials in the committee room, including executive director John Njord, whether the highway agency wanted to take over transit operations.
Several disabled transit riders told lawmakers they didn't like the way UTA was redesigning its bus routes. Bill Tibbitts, director of the Utah Anti-Hunger Action Committee, cautioned legislators about trying to wring too much money out of UTA fare boxes, saying that could decrease ridership and harm the people most dependent on public transit.
