This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
In exchange for eliminating a service it values at $194,000 a year, Utah Transit Authority officials are offering Salt Lake City a one-time payment of $100,000 — along with some non-cash items.
The service in question is free bus service in downtown's free-fare zone. And despite 85 years remaining on a 100-year contract to provide it, UTA is pressing hard for Salt Lake City to OK scrapping the free service from North Temple to 500 South between 200 East and 600 West.
In 1996, UTA contracted with the city to provide free bus service along with free light-rail rides downtown in exchange for use of city rights of way for TRAX.
Under Utah law, such contracted services cannot be eliminated unless the city receives something of equal value in return, according to City Attorney Ed Rutan.
Thus far, however, City Council members aren't convinced that UTA's offer meets the legal requirement.
Nonetheless, transit officials are lobbying to get out of the free bus service because they say the agency loses about $200,000 a year providing it.
About half that amount, they say, is due to lost revenue from legitimate free-fare passengers who would pay a $2.35 fare if the service were eliminated.
In addition, according to UTA spokesman Marc Bowman, the agency loses about $100,000 in fares from riders boarding in the free-fare zone who get off at outbound stops without paying. At the standard $2.35 fare, that would mean that more than 42,000 such passengers refuse to pay each year.
UTA officials also complain that the free bus service attracts what they call "riffraff" who drink, ride the bus in the winter to stay warm, and are a threat to bus drivers.
"The free-fare zone made sense back then [in 1996]," UTA General Manager Mike Allegra told the City Council at a recent work session. "But it doesn't work for us anymore."
Although the council is willing to negotiate an end to free bus service, it will not entertain such a discussion concerning TRAX.
Freshman Councilman Kyle LaMalfa said UTA's $100,000-plus offer to bail on the free bus is a "nonstarter" because it's too stingy.
"I get it. It's an operational nightmare for UTA," LaMalfa said in an interview. "But they have to be sensitive to the fact that the law doesn't allow us to sign away the contract [without getting equal value in return]."
Downtown residents, low-income people and visitors attending conventions depend on the free buses in the free-fare zone, LaMalfa said.
Councilman Luke Garrott also found UTA's proposal lacking.
"With an offer like that, I'm sure we have a long way to go," he said of what appears to be a complex negotiating process. "We're not close to being in the ballpark."
Garrott argued the city should not place a value on the service based on UTA's lost revenues. "I'm a little disturbed that the council seems in the mood to accommodate such a radical proposal."
He would like to see, at the least, a circulator transit system downtown in exchange for eliminating free bus service.
In addition, Garrott said he also is unwilling to trade away the bus service for a distance-based fare system sometime in the future — even though that's a payment switch he and other city officials would support.
"I won't accept a promise from them that distance-based fares are coming," he said. "No way."
The City Council will conduct a public benefit study, said council Chairman Soren Simonsen, to determine the value of the service and a fair exchange if free bus service were to be eliminated.
"A benefits study would demonstrate that any new agreement [between the city and UTA] would have an equivalent value, so no one is being overcompensated."
UTA officials told the council they would like a new agreement inked before the transit agency's semiannual change date of Aug. 19, when they would like to terminate the free bus service.
But Simonsen said that seems unlikely.
"There are too many things we have to do," he said of analyzing options to replace the bus service. "We will be deliberative and thorough in our analysis. Maybe we can get it done by fall."
UTA's offer to end free bus service downtown
Expansion of TRAX free-fare zone to include 500 W. North Temple station
Addition of signs at TRAX stations describing the free-fare zone
Promotion of free-fare zone on UTA website
Media and advertising campaign on changes to free-fare zone
Contribution of $100,000 to support bike-share program —
UTA Twitter chat, public hearing
Twitter chat • UTA officials will answer questions about the proposal to end free buses in the free-fare zone, 4:30 to 5 p.m., Tuesday. The public can join the discussion by searching the hashtag #UTAFFZ.
Public hearing • Comments from the public will be accepted by UTA officials on the free-fare zone proposal, 5 to 7 p.m., Thursday, 669 W. 200 South.