This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Dec. 12's op-ed page included commentary from Derek Monson ("It's time to make UTA compete for the public's trust") that recognized UTA has a problem but recommended a highly complex solution. Constant faultfinding demoralizes UTA's good staff that performs well, so something has to be done and quickly. But there's an easy way to solve the problem.

Starting over isn't necessary; most of UTA works fine. The problems can be fixed, and are related to UTA's governance. Its charter needs an update. What made sense when UTA was newly organized just doesn't work for the huge successful operation UTA is now.

We need UTA because transit is a huge benefit to our air quality. Commuters riding transit cause much less air pollution than commuters in cars. It's simple, straightforward cause and effect: more riders, less bad air; the cheaper the fares, the more riders. And some of our great highways would be clogged and way over capacity without UTA. But some things need fixing.

UTA is chartered as an "enterprise," which means UTA is a business, expected to break even or make a profit. If tickets are expensive, few people ride UTA, and our air is more polluted and we need more money to build more highways. Increasing ridership, routes and service, and lowering ticket prices for UTA benefits everyone. If some of the costs have to be covered out of the state's general funding, the savings on highway building alone would be well worth it. We benefit, every one of us, from less pollution and congestion prevention, whether we ride UTA or we drive. Public transit service is a worthy purpose for our government. UTA should pay attention to the bottom line, but they deserve funding from the state, provided there is effective oversight.

UTA's problems — careless spending, super-high bonuses and so forth — as reported in this paper are entirely attributable to its governing board and very top management. Their charter says the governing board is appointed by individual legislative leaders; a seat on UTA's board is a gift from a person in power. That's the root of the governance problem. The excellent people on the board are responsible to powerful legislators for appointment and (according to Trib reporting) subject to request for resignation if they don't please their sponsors.

UTA needs a different kind of board and executive management. The charter gave a great start to the new UTA. It doesn't work so well now. A board with split loyalties and a requirement to make a profit makes "the best" transit unattainable. For the best transit, UTA needs the best oversight.

One of our most efficient governing boards is the Wasatch Front Regional Council (WFRC). The board members, the final decision makers for policy, are regional elected officials, mostly mayors and county commissioners. Locally elected people govern in the local public's interest. It works very well. WFRC staff is responsible to recommend actions and to fully explain them. The detailed explanations are public, published before each decision-making meeting. Recommendations are very carefully thought through and justified with facts, and so are board votes — because board members are elected in the areas affected. That's what people want; that kind of board could work for UTA.

The old saying goes, "don't throw the baby out with the bath water." UTA is a fine organization that needs governance responsible to the people it serves. With a little cooperation from the Legislature, we can fix the problem. Let's not talk about getting rid of a transit system that's nationally admired for superior work and superior effectiveness.

Linda Johnson has served or is currently serving on several boards and advisory commissions. She recently was appointed to the Mountainous Planning Commission for Salt Lake County (still to be sworn in), and she has served on Mayor Peter Corroon's and Mayor Ben McAdams' Blue Ribbon Commission to update the foothills and canyons zoning.