The magazine points out that transit rail hadn't run through Salt Lake City since President Truman's administration. When the idea came up in the 1980s, it was met with hostility. Protestors unfurled anti-rail banners at the 1997 groundbreaking.
Still, the first leg of the rail system opened in 1999. Once expected to draw 22,000 riders by 2020, TRAX already carries 58,000 riders daily and is spurring new transit-oriented development near its platforms.
"If you can do that in Salt Lake, you can do it anywhere," said Utah Sierra Club representative Marc Heileson.
The magazine will reach 1 million subscribers, Heileson said.
UTA now is proposing to expand the system via an $895 million bond issue, which would allow four lines to be completed by 2014 instead of 2025 or 2030.
Three other cities received "Green Streets" awards: Austin, Texas; Minneapolis, and Pittsburgh.
- Patty Henetz
