In November, Salt Lake County voters turned down Proposition 1 which would have raised sales taxes in order to improve Utah Transit Authority (UTA) bus and rail service.
– by Amy Brunvand
Apparently voters don’t like the way UTA is managed, but even without the extra funds transit plays a significant role in reducing air pollution along the Wasatch Front.
In the past few years, UTA has expanded their fleet of low-emission natural gas and hybrid electric busses and increased service frequency on many routes to encourage ridership.
UTA says that transit ridership takes an estimated 120,000 car trips off the road every day resulting in a net savings of more than 2,000 tons of annual vehicle emissions. Utah Business magazine recognized UTA with a 2015 Green Business Award for their role in helping clean the air.
UTA Transit and Air Quality: RideUTA.com/uploads/ TransitAndAQFactsR9_20140205_X.pdf
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