During a review of the UTA final 2006 budget at a board meeting Wednesday, General Manager John Inglish said that while the budget included revenues from the 25 cents per ride surcharge, it also assumed diesel would cost $2.50 per gallon next year.

The latest fuel buy was $1.71 per gallon. If UTA can keep its diesel costs below $2.20 per gallon, the surcharge won't be needed to close a $6 million budget hole, UTA officials said.

That was good news to Tia Thulin, who said her only transportation options are the bus or TRAX. She attended the board meeting with two other members of the Anti-Hunger Action Committee, a low-income advocacy group.

"I ride the bus sometimes six times a day," she said. "I hope they don't charge us [the surcharge] because we're poor."

The $140.5 million operating budget, which includes a 10-cent general fare increase that brings a one-way trip to $1.50, required a few nips and tucks to get it to match drafts rolled out in October.

Ridership in 2005 had been overestimated by more than 245,000 trips and passenger revenues came in about $240,000 under original estimates. For 2006, UTA expects 36.3 million boardings and $24.1 million in revenues, a figure that includes the $2.2 million that the surcharge was expected to bring in during a six-month test period.

Meanwhile, UTA is negotiating a purchase agreement with an Ogden refinery to provide bio-diesel fuel for buses and para-transit.

Other cuts and adjustments to the final budget, such as not filling open job slots, forgoing office-equipment replacement and delaying some projects, allowed UTA to come in a little under its 2005 projections, said spokesman Justin Jones.

The agency's top goals for 2006 are to increase ridership by 2.29 percent over 2005 and to raise $21.2 million from grants, air-quality improvement funds and state and local private contributions.