Tag Archives: energy

Mayoral Candidates Speak Out Against UTA Revision Plan

Posted on April 12, 2007 | Leave a comment

I have posted on this blog about UTA’s revision to its system and how it will adversely affect riders in Salt Lake Valley. It plans to not only decrease the number of routes (from 98 to 80) but also increase the fares.

At a forum yesterday organized by Crossroads Urban Center, several Salt Lake City Mayoral Candidates raised concerns about this plan. Here are some comments:

House Minority Leader Ralph Becker, D-Salt Lake City, wants the agency to go back and talk to riders, hold public hearings, and then come out with a proposal. He said UTA did not include input from riders when drafting the plan.
“UTA needs to understand that when it starts a process like this, it should not start with a proposal,” Becker said.
Former Salt Lake City Councilman Keith Christensen and Salt Lake County Councilwoman Jenny Wilson said the agency should look at using smaller buses or vans in areas where the number of riders is low. City Councilwoman Nancy Saxton said that UTA has designed its system to focus on commuters and that the city should eliminate free parking during Christmas to subsidize buses.
Surgeon J.P. Hughes said he would like to see buses operate for longer hours.

But UTA says that the new plan will be more reliable and efficient, even though The agency has received just over 2,000 comments about the plan. About 65 percent of the comments criticized the redesign, while 35 percent praised it, according to UTA.

It is clear that UTA is going to go ahead with its plan, even though it is also clear that most people are critical of it. What’s the point of public comment if they aren’t going to listen?

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Rocky Mountain Power Doesn’t Like the Suggeston to Ban New Coal-Fired Power Plants

Posted on April 4, 2007 | Leave a comment

Of course they don’t.  Why would someone who profits off of human needs be FOR something that could potentially diminish their profits?

As a follow up to yesterday’s news that Utah Doctors want to see some action to clean up our air, today’s Deseret News, in
Bad-air warning raises questions, reports that our power company is opposed to that suggestion.

Their [the doctors] position is that bad air along the Wasatch Front amounts to a health crisis that will only grow worse without bold steps. Among steps they propose are a ban on new coal-fired power plants because of mercury the plants release, improved mass transit to reduce vehicles on the road, requiring freeway drivers to slow to 55 miles per hour on smoggy days, and asking school bus drivers not to idle in school yards while waiting for students.

Rocky Mountain Powers’ response:

“If policymakers determine that they do not want electricity generated from coal,” said Rocky Mountain Power spokesman Dave Eskelsen, “we’re going to have to get it somewhere else, and it would be a lot more expensive.”
      What about the physicians’ position that some alternative methods of producing power are no more expensive than coal-burning generators?
Eskelsen said wind power with federal subsidies has come down to a “reasonable range” of dollars spent per kilowatt-hours produced.But wind is available only about 30 percent of the time at the best sites, he said, and coal- and gas-burning plants produce power more than 85 percent of the time.
      Also, the alternative methods don’t give enough power to meet needs. A large wind turbine installation is about 100 megawatts and some proposals have been made to build wind projects that approach 300 megawatts capacity, he said.
      “But your typical coal-fired power plants are somewhere between 500 and 900 megawatts per unit, and frequently there are several units constructed at each location.”
      Based on projected growth of demand, renewable energy and conservation “are not going to be able to supply the customer in the future,” Eskelsen said.
      “We will need all of the energy efficiency and other demand-side resources we can get, all of the renewable energy we can acquire,” he added. “And we believe that we will still need electricity generation from coal and natural gas.”

From the UT Environmental Quality Dept:
Dianne Nielson, executive director of the Utah Division of Environmental Quality who was present during the Friday briefing, said she appreciates the doctors coming forward and raising their concerns.

Now here’s what I’m talkin’ ’bout:
But cleaner cars and fuels [re: stepping up emissions standards] won’t make much difference as long as the number of motorists increases, she said.
      If mass transit can carry more than the present 2 percent of people who would otherwise drive, “if we can double that, if we can triple that,” pollution would be reduced, Nielson said.

That’s my favorite part of this article. 

REDUCE THE NUMBER OF DRIVERS – USE MASS TRANSIT – WALK, BIKE.  It’s a start to decreasing pollution along the Wasatch Front – and promoting healthier lifestyles.

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No Drive Day

Posted on April 4, 2007 | Leave a comment

I’ve been participating in No Drive Day for three weeks now (I actually have been doing “no drive days” for several years now, just not as part of a project).  It’s difficult with the way our current mass transportation system is set up, but not impossible.  Instead of 20  minutes to get to work in the morning, it takes a little less than one hour.  This is because of the distance we live from where we work causing is to take one bus, the train, and either walking or bicycling the rest of the way (although the latter distance affords the option of taking another bus, we choose to walk or bike).  Fortunately we are able to get bus passes through our work that are good for a year and cost a total of $50.

Yesterday we took our bicycles with us.  It’s a little cumbersome that way because of having to hoist the bikes onto the bike rack in front of the bus and then up into the train.  Taking your bicycle is risky because on the bus and on either end of the train (the only place bikes are permitted on the trains) there can only be two bikes at a time.  If your bus or train comes and their are bikes on there already, you are SOL – if you abide by the rules.  Fortunately our schedule gets us just ahead of the rush hour in the a.m. and after the rush  hour in the p.m.  But any other time it’s likely we would have to wait longer because of the bike situation, since there are more and more folks using their bikes.

My advice to UTA is to design train cars and buses to hold more bicycles.  I’ve seen it in other cities, so I know it can be done).

We will be expanding our “No Drive Day” to two days per week soon.  We just have to decide which day since many days we have to stay uptown for meetings and other events and mass transit becomes non-existent to our area after certain times of the evening.

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Utah Transit Authority Upsetting Things AGAIN……

Posted on March 29, 2007 | Leave a comment

The Utah Transit Authority (UTA) keeps making changes.  Over a  year ago it completely did away with the bus route on the street in front of my house, running north and south between two TRAX stations.  Finally they added a regular route, running every 1/2 hour east and west on the street about 1/4 block away from my house,  to and from the TRAX station. 

But now UTA wants to change everything AGAIN and raise the fare!  As I understand what is listed as the changes, one of them will be totally cutting out the bus route added near my home, making it difficult for me to use mass transit easily. Many folks I know who use mass transit regularly will also be affected negatively by the proposed changes.   I don’t mind paying a higher fare IF the service is better.  These changes do not reflect better service, in my opinion. 

To that end, UTA is seeking public comment – please provide your input! 

      The Utah Transit Authority will be accepting public comment on its proposed route redesign until this Saturday (March 31). Public comment on UTA’s proposed fare increases will be accepted until April 18.
      To comment on both proposals, you can call 1-877-882-0200.
      To send a comment about the redesign online, go to www.rideuta.com/schedulesAndMaps/2007routeChanges/submitComment/.
      Comments about the fare increases can be e-mailed to ihuntsman@rideuta.com.

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Move Over Fred Flintstone

Posted on December 20, 2006 | Leave a comment
A Human Powered Bus?

Image for the article Running bus, a human-powered bus
Manufactured by Honda, it features 10 stationary runners.

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Here’s the Pledge (transit funds) -Now We’ll See

Posted on December 20, 2006 | Leave a comment

In today’s Salt Lake Tribune:


S.L. County transportation plan
Roads or rails? It’s both, and soon UTA, elected leaders say there should be enough cash to cover everything, including TRAX spurs

Utah Transit Authority General Manager John Inglish promised plainly that a new quarter-cent sales tax provides the resources to complete all four new TRAX spurs and commuter rail.
    “The bottom line is: This is a package deal,” Inglish assured a skittish cluster of politicians.
    And all those rail lines, he pledged, will be running within seven to 10 years.

In today’s Deseret News:

Officials push mass transit to top of list

The Salt Lake County Council and county mayors on Tuesday laid the groundwork to build a network of rails over the next 10 years that will span the Salt Lake Valley, by endorsing a list of projects that will be funded through a quarter-cent sales-tax hike that voters approved in November.
      The officials hanged priorities recommended in a list of 34 projects compiled by the Wasatch Front Regional Council and approved funding for four projects, three of which are mass transit.


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Tax increase voted for in November not going for what was intended….

Posted on December 19, 2006 | Leave a comment

This is precisely why I did not vote for the proposal to increase taxes for transportation. I felt from the beginning that the language was too vague and that would leave it open to interpretation and spending money on things I don’t want my tax money spent on. Apparently there is a lot of discussion by county officials and conflict about where to spend the money from the additional tax revenue.

An excerpt from the article, County may alter transit priorities:

Voters in November approved the quarter-cent tax increase by a margin of 64 percent to 36 percent. Although the ballot language didn’t specifically say what type of projects the money should fund, several opinion polls showed Salt Lake County voters wanted the money to go to transit.
But out of the 34 projects on the draft list, 29 are for roads.

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Voting on Proposition #3

Posted on November 3, 2006 | Leave a comment

My dad always advised me to vote “no” on issues and candidates in elections where uncertainty (on my part) prevailed. I’ve taken that advice before and am using it again this year.

This year in Salt Lake County residents will have the opportunity to vote for Proposition 3, which proposes to fund new TRAX lines, roads, and commuter rail with a one-quarter of 1% sales tax increase.

I have thought long and hard about this. In a well-designed website by the Salt Lake Chamber, with well-designed lawn signs being seen all around, ardent proponents of Proposition #3 claim that:
The state of Utah is facing a very real transportation crisis. Utah’s population is increasing at double the national average (it’s like adding a city the size of Draper and Riverton to the state every year), and traffic is growing twice as fast. Traffic congestion on our roads and highways will triple over the next 25 years. By voting for Proposition 3, Utahns will fund the building of more TRAX lines, roadways (including the new Mountain View Corridor), and commuter rail. The exact order and priority of the projects will be decided by local government officials. With Proposition 3’s increased funding, many road and rail projects planned for completion 30 years from now can be finished by 2015.

The website also cleverly and urgently informs readers why it is important to vote on this NOW – without much detail.

There is no question what is needed. The SL Chamber has carefullyoutlined the facts on its website.

But here is my issue: Proposition #3 is too vague. I don’t like voting on issues that are not carefully thought out and do not outline specifically how my tax dollars will be used. SEveral years ago I voted FOR a TRAX line to be built in West Jordan. Other communities have done the same. Bus routes have been cut in my neighborhood. Where are we in the processes of those projects? Before I vote on an initiative, I want to see the precise budget proposal with an itemized list of how funds will be used, along with a timeline.

I am a very vocal and strong advocate of reducing traffic and diverting funds to more bus routes and better mass transportation overall. I would vote for Proposition #3 if as much time and money went into a better outlined proposal as is being spent on ads for its current vague proposal. As it is, while I have not 100% made my decision, I am at this point inclined to vote “no” on Propostion #3 in its current proposed state.

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For people who make excuses about not using the train….

Posted on October 25, 2006 | Leave a comment

It seems that a common response I get about using the train is how much time it takes and that peoples’ family time is more important than spending time on the train, thus the excuse for using their cars to commute.

Today’s Deseret News has a feature on how much time people spend in their cars to commute to and from work.

The study by The Road Information Program (TRIP – a nonprofit organization that studies roads and congestion in several states.) shows that Utah motorists are wasting up to 76 hours and 56 gallons of fuel annually, just sitting in traffic. And depending what roads you use, the numbers go even higher. Traffic congestion costs Utah drivers as much as $1,275 a year in wasted time and fuel.
Over the past few months, TRIP looked at data from state and federal agencies, as well as research and planning groups, to complete the study that lists the 25 most-congested roads in Utah. For each of those roads, the study estimated how much time and money people waste while stuck in traffic.
“Commuters are losing a lot of time and wasting money because of growing traffic congestion,” said Frank Moretti, spokesman for TRIP, a transportation-research group based in Washington, D.C.
Utah County had 14 of the 25 most congested roads, while Salt Lake County had eight of them, according to the study.
The most expensive route to drive is I-15 in Utah County, from Orem’s University Parkway to 1600 North, the study showed. Motorists using that route spend $1,275 each year on traffic delays. Drivers there lose about 76 hours of time annually in traffic and waste about 56 gallons of fuel.

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Message from Chief Arvol Looking Horse

Posted on October 19, 2006 | Leave a comment

Message from Chief Arvol Looking Horse.

Mitakuye (my relative),

I, Chief Arvol Looking Horse, of the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota Nation, ask
you to understand an Indigenous perspective on what has happened in America,
what we call “Turtle Island.” My words seek to unite the global community
through a message from our sacred ceremonies to unite spiritually, each in our
own ways of beliefs in the Creator.

We have been warned from Ancient Prophecies of these times we live in today,
but have also been given a very important message about a solution to turn
these terrible times around.
Continue reading →

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