Changes are coming to the Utah Transit Authority’s F401 bus route between Grantsville and Tooele cities due to low ridership numbers.
Ryan Taylor, the coordinated mobility manager for UTA, said a committee of shareholders in Tooele County were involved in drafting preliminary plans for the adjusted route. Instead of the existing hourly service, the committee recommended several changes that more efficiently use UTA’s resources.
“We’re not going to reduce service in the county,” Taylor said.
The recommendations include creating an additional morning route to the existing F401 route to ferry riders to buses that run to Salt Lake City in the morning and evening, Taylor said. The buses to Salt Lake have additional space but also have the heaviest ridership in the county, he said.
The F400 bus route, which runs through Tooele to Walmart, Mountain West Medical Center and Utah State University, might also be altered to create an additional route, Taylor said. The proposed F402 route would make a smaller loop near the university and low-income housing in Tooele to provide better service along a higher traffic corridor.
Taylor said the proposed changes also include an on-demand service that could ferry riders to the doctor or other appointments during the day. The service will require riders to schedule transportation one day in advance to start, but will require less notice as time goes on.
Grantsville Mayor Brent Marshall served on the shareholder’s committee that helped draft the potential amendments to the bus routes in Tooele County. He said he hopes the on-demand service could follow the success of a similar program in Park City, which now requires only about an hour of prior notice to pick up riders.
“Our hope is it will prosper and get down to an hour (notice),” Marshall said.
Residents will have the opportunity to weigh in on the proposed changes to bus service in the county during a public hearing at Tooele Applied Technology College on June 10 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Representatives from UTA will be on hand to hear residents comments and answer questions, Taylor said.
After the public hearing, a 10-day comment period will be open to gather additional input from the community. After UTA approves any changes to the bus line, the decision will be announced 30 days prior to the changes taking effect, Taylor said.