Is new train on right track?

You'd think Joey DeGrado might rejoice in his front-row seat for the transportation revolution that's about to hit the Wasatch Front. He has a bike shop that sells and rents some Raleigh cruisers kitty-corner from Ogden's new FrontRunner commuter-rail station, perfectly positioned to attract people aching for a new way to get around.
    But DeGrado, like so many who are eyeing the shiny red-white-and-blue diesel locomotives that start passenger service in six days, fears the $145 monthly cost will deter many potential riders. He knows from long sales experience that most people won't use foot or pedal power in part of their daily commute.
    "The American public is so lazy," he said from his stool while affixing the back wheel to a bicycle for display in his narrow brick shop.
    Even his daughter, who commutes to work near the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, can't pencil out a budget that favors riding the FrontRunner over her Subaru Forester, because she and her husband share the ride.
    Suburban dwellers throughout the 38 miles from Ogden and downtown Salt Lake City are doing the same math this month, and the equation differs with a series of factors. Do they carpool? How far does the train stop from work? Are there sidewalks between the train and their destination?
    Developers are banking on some Utahns getting active and living closer to stations. In Ogden, a city that has thrown itself into the downtown redevelopment game, hammers echo and power saws screech in the streets east of Union Station. The city was pushing this resettlement wave even without the train, but some developers say it helped them decide exactly where to invest.
    "It went into the column of pluses," said Scot Nicol, a California partner in Ogden Properties, which is renovating historic buildings for condos up top and retail at street level. His development manager, former city development official Scott Brown, said hundreds of downtown housing units now financed or under construction are trading on FrontRunner's new mobility.
    "It's a huge part of it," Brown said. "It's trying to get people to realize they can live in Ogden and work in Salt Lake or anywhere along the Wasatch Front."
    At least 939 housing units are planned within walking distance of the Ogden station. Other suburban cities up and down the line have their own plans, though not all look like what's commonly considered pedestrian-friendly. Renderings of a major mixed-use development near the Farmington station, for instance, show a yawning parking lot between the platform and the shops.
    DeGrado lives a couple of miles uphill from his shop and bikes to work every day, but he can see paying the $10 round-trip fare to Salt Lake for some city fun now and then. "You can have a few drinks and you don't have to worry about driving back, that's my thinking about it," he said.
    That's his daughter's thinking precisely. Because she drives with her husband to workplaces not far apart, Jorja Warren said it's cheaper motoring to work than buying two monthly passes for $290. But come some Friday, they might just take the train to work so they can stay for some evening revelry with friends.
    "If we decide to go down and drink in Salt Lake we wouldn't have to drive," she said.
    Otherwise, though, the gas for their shared commute runs about $200 a month, plus $30 every other month for oil changes on their 2006 vehicle. They'll keep doing that instead of riding FrontRunner and taking the free TRAX light-rail transfer to their offices.
    Of course, the cost of driving isn't limited to oil changes and gasoline. There are car payments, routine and unexpected maintenance, parking, insurance and accidents. AAA Utah estimates that the cost for driving the state's roads this year is 54.1 cents per mile - $8,121 for those driving 15,000 miles a year. But few say they ever considered totally abandoning the family car in favor of the rails. FrontRunner is just another option or convenience, and at times a faster one.
    A drive this week from Salt Lake's new rail hub north to Ogden during rush hour, starting just before 5 p.m., took 61 minutes. The same trip on a FrontRunner train zipping at up to 79 mph would have taken a comparable 58 minutes, according to the Utah Transit Authority's printed schedule. The real time savings would have come on the first half of the journey, where the traffic bottleneck from Salt Lake to Farmington caused the drive there to take 38 minutes. The train would have taken 25 minutes.
    State transportation planners are hoping drive times will decrease at least temporarily this fall when the Legacy Parkway opens parallel to Interstate-15. Also complicating time comparisons is the fact that rail riders who want to reach downtown Salt Lake City will transfer to a new light-rail extension that will take six minutes to reach the existing TRAX line at EnergySolutions Arena. A downtown-bound TRAX train will leave the station every seven minutes.
    UTA based its fares and $145 monthly passes on a plan to recoup 30 percent of operating expenses, the same ratio it sees on TRAX light rail in Salt Lake County, spokeswoman Carrie Bohnsack-Ware said. The single-ticket price is $2.50 plus 50 cents per station traveled, or a maximum of $5 one-way for the full Ogden-Salt Lake ride.
    "Commuter rail around the country uses the distance-based pricing, as we've decided to do," Bohnsack-Ware said. "UTA's FrontRunner fares are about average on the fare prices. However, many other public transit agencies charge for the use of the park-and-ride lots, which we do not."
    Commuter rail fares in Chicago and San Diego are comparable to Salt Lake's prices. A monthly pass on Chicagoland's Metra line for the 38 miles from suburban Aurora to Chicago Union Station costs $152.55, and a one-way ticket costs $5.65. San Diego's Coaster traverses 41 miles from Oceanside to downtown for $154 monthly or $5.50 one-way.
    Both of those systems offer cheaper monthly passes for riders who commute shorter distance.
    FrontRunner and its fares sound great to hundreds who already pay $145 for monthly express bus passes. Up to now, they've been stuck in traffic like everyone else, choosing mass transit for it stress-free ride and whatever cost savings they achieve.
    "This way I can fall asleep, and it's a lot safer," said Bruce Richeson, an Ogden commuter who stepped off express Route 472 from Salt Lake on Tuesday evening. "I'm going to try [commuter rail] and see what it's like."
    Others would like to ride but can't justify the time and effort door-to-door. Kevin Sparrow is one. He lives in Clearfield and works for a metal manufacturer nearly the length of Davis County away in North Salt Lake - a city that has a FrontRunner station but not much of a pedestrian plan. It means a 2-mile walk without sidewalks.
    "Today when I got to work it was 60-some-odd degrees and now it's snowing and I didn't bring a coat," he said Tuesday afternoon. "So that would be a long, miserable walk."
    He'll keep pumping $160 a month into the Jeep Wrangler.
   
   Q&A
   
    When does FrontRunner start regular paid service?
    May 1.
    How much will a monthly pass cost?
    $145, and you can use your pass on TRAX and UTA buses.
    And what will one ticket cost?
    $2.50 to start, then add 50 cents for each additional stop up to a maximum of $5.50.
    How often do trains run?
    Every half-hour during the day and every hour in the evening.
    Does the train run on the weekends?
    Saturday only.
   
   PAYING YOUR FARE
    One-way pass: $2.50 base, 50 cents each additional stop.
    Maximum one-way fare: $5.50, compared to $4 for current express bus.
    Monthly pass: $145, same as current express bus.
    Transfers: A FrontRunner pass works on buses and TRAX.
    Summer youth pass: $87, ages 6-17.
    Lagoon shuttle: Free from Farmington station.
    Vendors: Purchase tickets from station kiosks, UTA pass vendors or online at www.rideuta.com
    TAKING THE RIDE
    Service hours: 5 a.m. to midnight Monday-Friday, 7 a.m. to midnight Saturday.
    Speed: Up to 79 mph.
    Train frequency: On the half-hour during the day; on the hour in the evening.
    Sample ride length: Train leaving Ogden at 6:53 a.m. arrives in Salt Lake at 7:52 a.m.
    Stop frequency: Every 7-13 minutes (Layton-Farmington is 10 minutes).
    Capacity: Each bi-level car seats 200, or 300 with standing passengers.
    LOOKING AHEAD
    FrontRunner South: UTA breaks ground this summer, Provo trains roll by 2015.
    FrontRunner North: Wasatch Front Regional Council's 2030 transportation plan envisions a link to Brigham City.