How Do You Feel About UTA Prices?

I might as well just come right out and say it: This city is not properly equipped to be paying the increasing prices of bus and train fares. Salt Lake City’s unemployment rates are far too high. The cost of living farrrr exceeds the amount of money left over from taxes, and the cost of food and necessary goods. Now we’re expected to pay 2.25 for every time we ride on the bus? I say every time because a transfer is next to useless these days. Did you know that a bus transfer only lasts for two hours now?? Don’t you remember the glorious six hour transfers from when you were a kid? Well, now, bus transfers are meant for people who get on the bus for fun and wander around all day. It seems UTA is only sensitive to the needs of vagrants now. What good is two hours? I can’t imagine there is one person who rides the bus to work and gets on another bus back home in time to actually be able to use their transfer once more. That adds another 2.25 to the budget for the day. While this might seem like a small amount to some of you, I can assure you, it truly isn’t.

Let’s tally it up. 5 dollars a day (that’s assuming you don’t do anything but go to work and sit at home…), 5 days a week, 4 weeks a month. That equals 100 dollars a month just spent on riding trax. Now, back when I was driving with the incredibly bloated gas prices, I still didn’t pay this much a month in transportation! I can only imagine the skewed difference in payment now that fuel prices are nearly half of what they recently were! Now there are still several things wrong here. First off, the majority of people who have to ride the bus or trax can’t afford to work less than 6 or 7 days a week, and most people do more than just go to work and sit at home. So, now let’s work the numbers a bit more. We are now within a range of 100 dollars and nearly 150 dollars just spent on getting to work and back! So, in order for a person to be able to go anywhere and get back home after work, we have to double that amount. That means that we’re paying anywhere between 200 and 300 dollars a month to ride UTA! This is an outrageous amount of money! And the great majority of us are on the lowest economical rung anyway. We can’t afford to be shilling out 300 dollars a month for this! Especially when we can’t always expect the prompt, courteous service we deserve! I demand UTA lower their prices by at least one third of the fare price! It’s the least they can do considering their fuel is now half of what they were spending not too long ago, they collect unjustifiably high fines from many people traveling the trains with newly expired or missing tickets/transfers, and they have been blessed with so many customers in these times of financial woe.

Let us know what you think! Did my article sway you in the slightest? Do you have any feelings on this subject at all? Do you or do you not demand UTA lower their prices to, at least, $1.50 in order to match the current fuel costs? This is an important issue and we should all consider our stance.

For current UTA prices go to http://www.rideuta.com/ridingUTA/payingFare/fares.aspx.