The Utah Transit Authority Board faces a big question that could refocus its bus service for years, and create a new set of winners and losers among taxpayers.
Should it increase bus frequency in busy, densely populated areas to increase ridership, or should it spend its money instead to cover more geographic areas — including in sparsely populated neighborhoods?
The board has a self-imposed deadline to decide by the end of the month how to balance those competing interests. No matter what, that seems bound to upset some and please others.
“To the extent that it changes anything, you’re going to have controversy,” but that isn’t necessarily bad, warned Jarett Walker, a consultant helping the board sort through the issue toward refocusing the agency’s bus service.