Episode 58
“We’re Ready Now.” – Jay Fox on the 2034 Olympics and Utah’s Big Transit Moment
In this week’s episode of Transit Unplugged, Paul Comfort sits down with Jay Fox, Executive Director of the Utah Transit Authority (UTA) — one of the fastest-growing, highest-performing transit agencies in the United States and APTA’s 2025 Transit System of the Year.
Jay brings a remarkable background across FAA, FTA, Amtrak, and SEPTA — and now leads the agency serving one of the most dynamic, youthful, and transit-hungry regions in America.
Together, Paul and Jay dive into:
Preparing for the 2034 Winter Olympics
Jay shares why UTA told the IOC: “We’re ready now.”
UTA’s rail, BRT corridors, FrontRunner upgrades, and multimodal network already form a complete backbone for Olympic mobility — with more enhancements on the way.
FrontRunner 2X: The Generational Rail Project
UTA is pushing to move from 25% to 50% double-tracking, enabling:
-15-minute peak service
-A new infill station
-A new maintenance facility
-Pathways to Sunday service
…all while ridership continues to soar.
A Multimodal System Built for Growth
UTA operates:
-131 miles of rail (commuter, light rail, streetcar)
-Three BRT lines (including OGX, electric and wildly successful)
-Extensive bus, microtransit, vanpool, and paratransit services
-A booming Ski Bus network that keeps the canyons moving
Transit ROI: The Utah Model
Jay breaks down the hard numbers on economic impact:
-$9.6B in economic output generated
-$377M in tax revenue returned
-79,000 jobs supported
-Ever $1 invested netted a $5.11 returned to the regional economy
All from an operating budget of roughly $480M.
Why UTA’s Riders Are Getting Younger
Jay explains how university partnerships, free-fare programs, and campus connectivity are transforming ridership patterns — and why student riders today become lifelong riders tomorrow.
Global Collaboration
UTA is working with LA Metro, LA28, and Milan/Cortina teams to prepare for back-to-back Olympic cycles (2026, 2028, 2034), exchanging insights on operations, vehicle staging, and major-event transport logistics.
This is one of the most wide-ranging, energizing episodes we’ve recorded — and a perfect companion to our upcoming Transit Unplugged TV episode filmed on location in Utah.
Host: Paul Comfort
Executive Producer: Julie Gates
Producer: Paul Comfort
Editor: Patrick Emile
Associate Producer: Cyndi Raskin
Brand design: Tina Olagundoye
Social Media: Tatyana Mechkarova
If you have a question or comment, email us at info@transitunplugged.com.
Follow us on social media:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/transit-unplugged/
https://x.com/transitunplug
https://www.threads.net/@transitunplugged
https://www.instagram.com/transitunplugged/
Sign up for the Transit Unplugged Newsletter: https://transitunplugged.com/subscribe-to-the-transit-unplugged-newsletter/
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this program are those of the guests, and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Modaxo Inc., its affiliates or subsidiaries, or any entities they represent (“Modaxo”). This production belongs to Modaxo, and may contain information that may be subject to trademark, copyright, or other intellectual property rights and restrictions. This production provides general information, and should not be relied on as legal advice or opinion. Modaxo specifically disclaims all warranties, express or implied, and will not be liable for any losses, claims, or damages arising from the use of this presentation, from any material contained in it, or from any action or decision taken in response to it.
Transcript
Have you ever wanted to go skiing in Utah right now?
Speaker:Man, they've got brand new snow up on the hills.
Speaker:We went up there a month ago, outside of Salt Lake City and got to see where the
Speaker:Olympics were gonna be held in nine years, the 2034 Winter Olympics, back on the
Speaker:same site that they had quite a while ago.
Speaker:I'm Paul Comfort, and on this episode of Transit Unplugged, we
Speaker:take you inside the transit system that serves the Salt Lake City area.
Speaker:It's a large regional system called the Utah Transit Authority, and my
Speaker:friend Jay Fox is executive director.
Speaker:He's been there four years.
Speaker:He's got a great background in transit, both at the Federal
Speaker:Transit Administration, at Amtrak, at SEPTA, even time at the
Speaker:Federal Aviation Administration.
Speaker:He brought all that experience with him to Utah where he now is helping
Speaker:to deliver tremendous results.
Speaker:So much so that their agency was awarded the Transit System of
Speaker:the Year by the American Public Transportation Association this year,
Speaker:congratulations to Jay and his team.
Speaker:We were there filming an episode of Transit Unplugged TV, which
Speaker:will air this February on YouTube and other digital channels.
Speaker:And today we dive deep into the transit system.
Speaker:We talk about the ROI on transit $1 invested in UTA Utah Transit Authority
Speaker:generates $5.11 in economic return, and they've got the receipts to prove it.
Speaker:This ROI concept is very interesting.
Speaker:They've also got their commuter rail service Front Runner.
Speaker:He just got back from Washington, DC where he's lobbying for additional
Speaker:federal funds to help them double track their service so they can increase their
Speaker:capacity of services on the commuter rail, their ridership is skyrocketing.
Speaker:They've got all kinds of exciting things going on with
Speaker:Bus Rapid Transit, et cetera.
Speaker:We show it all to you in a couple months, but today you get to
Speaker:hear about it in depth from Jay Fox, their executive director.
Speaker:Enjoy this conversation.
Speaker:We're with Jay Fox today.
Speaker:Jay is Executive director of the Utah Transit Authority in Salt Lake.
Speaker:Jay, thanks for joining the show.
Speaker:Ah, thanks for having me, Paul.
Speaker:I really appreciate it.
Speaker:I'm really looking forward to the show.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker:Yeah, we had such a great time with you.
Speaker:About a month ago, our team from Transit Unplugged were
Speaker:out visiting with your agency.
Speaker:Gavin Gustafson helped, your public information officer helped kind of be our
Speaker:guide and we got to see your whole system.
Speaker:We got to ride all your different services and what a fantastic area.
Speaker:Jay, you've landed in a great place to live, and what a great system.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:No, it's a really cool place.
Speaker:So, I mean, one, it's nice to live where other people vacation.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And number two is, you know, it's such a great, great system.
Speaker:You know, when I was at Federal Transit, just people just rave
Speaker:about, you know, what we do and what this, you know, what this means.
Speaker:What an agency that moves 40 and a half million people means to a state that has
Speaker:to only three and a half million people.
Speaker:So it's a fantas, I really, it's a privilege to be the
Speaker:executive director here.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:You've been there four years now?
Speaker:It's four years, yeah.
Speaker:I'm just finishing my fourth year.
Speaker:And, yeah, it's been, every year has its own challenges, but, you know,
Speaker:every year we just keep getting it done you know, over and over again.
Speaker:It's great.
Speaker:3000 employees and they make it happen every day.
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:Now, you were just in Washington, DC this week, right?
Speaker:I mean, you're, I mean, you mentioned you worked at FTA as well, and we'll
Speaker:dive into your background in a minute, but you've got great connections there.
Speaker:And what were you there working on in DC?
Speaker:Yeah, so we're, you know, our Front Runner 2X project, which is the
Speaker:double tracking of Front Runner.
Speaker:Right now we have 25% double tracking for our system, but it only allows us
Speaker:to have half hour frequency in the peak.
Speaker:We're looking to increase that to 50% double tracking, add an infill
Speaker:station, add a new locomotive facility or rail car facility.
Speaker:And that'll give you notice to 15 minute service.
Speaker:Open the door to Sunday service.
Speaker:And so yeah, it's, itit really is.
Speaker:It would be a generational project.
Speaker:So we're out there just letting know, you know, and letting our delegation know.
Speaker:The House Senate committees know, you know, what we're doing and
Speaker:what we hope that they'll partner with us when it comes to funding.
Speaker:That's great.
Speaker:So Front Runner is your rail service, your heavy rail, right?
Speaker:Yeah, it's our heavy rail commuter service.
Speaker:It essentially, is runs parallel to interstate 15, which is, you
Speaker:know, so we're the transit lifeline.
Speaker:The Interstate 15 is the, you know, is the highway lifeline and but it's
Speaker:really hitting capacity I-15 and having Front Runner, you know, be an option
Speaker:for folks makes a big difference.
Speaker:You know, the people think, oh, well this gets people on transit.
Speaker:That's a great thing.
Speaker:Well, yeah, it does.
Speaker:It also pulls cars off the road because, you know, those freight trucks, they
Speaker:only have one direction and then they go, they can't, they can't use our system.
Speaker:So unless traffic going I-15 the easier it's for those, you know,
Speaker:those trucks to get through.
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:Tell us about your whole system, Jay.
Speaker:I mean, that's only one part of it.
Speaker:You run an amazing, I got to ride it a great commuter rail service.
Speaker:What else do you have there?
Speaker:We have a total 131 miles of rail.
Speaker:So you have the commuter rail.
Speaker:We have three light rail lines that are part of the Trax network.
Speaker:We have a street car line, which is two miles that runs into the Sugar House area.
Speaker:A huge fixed bus route network, three Bus Rapid Transits, one of
Speaker:which is coming online in April a year early, I have to add.
Speaker:So really exciting.
Speaker:And, you know, a really great micro transit program for us is known as
Speaker:our innovative mobility work and, you know, van pool, paratransit.
Speaker:I mean, you got it.
Speaker:We're the true multimodal system.
Speaker:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker:What's your annual budget for all that?
Speaker:So our operating budget is you know, when we're actually just finishing that now
Speaker:with our, with our trustees, it's gonna come in around 480 plus million a year.
Speaker:A lot of that, as we get through not only, obviously we get farebox,
Speaker:but you know, well funded for sales tax revenue from the counties and
Speaker:the municipalities that support us.
Speaker:That's great.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And that, since you mentioned that, let's talk about the service area.
Speaker:You're not just serving Salt Lake City, the capital.
Speaker:Oh yeah.
Speaker:You're serving a whole area, right?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:No, it's 77 municipalities, six counties.
Speaker:It's a lot.
Speaker:It challenges any government relations professional.
Speaker:So, you know, uh, you know, because look, the good thing is
Speaker:the good thing is our, the demand for our system is really strong.
Speaker:People want more and more and more service.
Speaker:So, uh, you know, the, you know, getting to make sure that that happens is,
Speaker:you know, obviously, you know, funding is part of that, uh, making sure we
Speaker:have the, the personnel to do it.
Speaker:Uh, I always say, you know, you build that highway.
Speaker:Well, they've got the built-in drivers, you know, that are in those vehicles.
Speaker:You know, you add transit, that's, that's more operators
Speaker:and more maintenance people.
Speaker:But yeah, very large service area.
Speaker:Maybe one of, actually the largest in the country we're, we're, we're
Speaker:really a highly urbanized area here.
Speaker:People think of Utah is expansive, but so much of the state is federally
Speaker:or state owned because it's, you know, it's wide open space that where
Speaker:people live is very densely populated.
Speaker:And I'm sure you saw that when you got here.
Speaker:I mean, you, if you were to come to Utah, uh, a century ago, you were like, wow, I
Speaker:don't even recognize the place anymore.
Speaker:So yeah, it's, uh, yeah, so that, that's the need for transit 'cause
Speaker:so a lot of young people are here too, and they use transit, you know.
Speaker:Um, our core ridership is 18 to 34.
Speaker:Oh, wow.
Speaker:That's really good, Jay.
Speaker:Yeah,
Speaker:yeah,
Speaker:yeah.
Speaker:When we were there, uh, we stayed up at the Inn on the Hill, which was,
Speaker:uh, just down from your state capitol.
Speaker:That's a phenomenal looking building too.
Speaker:I mean, we got to tour it, uh, inside.
Speaker:And, um, the, the weather, the Christmas, we were there in November.
Speaker:Uh, I mean, you have some of the best snow in the country.
Speaker:I know it's snowing today there, uh, where people go and ski.
Speaker:And the streets are clean.
Speaker:It's, uh, it's a, it's a wonderful area, Jay.
Speaker:I mean, I was super impressed.
Speaker:No, and you just mentioned the skiing, which is a, a service
Speaker:that I didn't even talk about.
Speaker:You know, we have a seasonal service on top of that 12 month service that's
Speaker:bringing people up to, to all the resorts.
Speaker:You know, the, the canyons in Salt Lake County as well
Speaker:as north and south of there.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker:What's that called?
Speaker:The snow bus.
Speaker:It's our ski bus service.
Speaker:Yeah, ski bus.
Speaker:Ski bus.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:We were actually ready to roll it out and uh, the snow wasn't cooperating, but,
Speaker:uh, I think everybody's very happy to see it today, so, we'll, we'll get that
Speaker:ski service up and running right now.
Speaker:So,
Speaker:yeah, because some of those roads are windy.
Speaker:We drove up them and one of them is like the most avalanche prone road
Speaker:in the, in the country or something.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:No, and that's, it's a big part of our work with the Utah
Speaker:Department of Transportation.
Speaker:You know, as that season goes along, that those avalanche, uh,
Speaker:threats, uh, you know, come up.
Speaker:And so we're, we're, our operating team is working with them, working with
Speaker:those resorts all the time to make sure that when we're going up and down those
Speaker:mountains, it's, uh, it's safe to do so.
Speaker:It's still, uh, you know, you need experienced operators
Speaker:to do that kind of work.
Speaker:These are narrow roads that, to your point, are very windy.
Speaker:And, uh, these are 40 foot buses.
Speaker:And our safety record is, is tremendous.
Speaker:So, um, but it's because of the effort we put in with, uh, with all our partners.
Speaker:Yeah, Gavin took us up to a couple of the ski, uh, operations, you know, Alta
Speaker:and the, uh, the other place, Snow Basin, where I think the Olympics are gonna be.
Speaker:And it was, um, they are very pro, ride the bus, you know, uh, you
Speaker:know, take the, take the ski bus up here, don't try to park your cars.
Speaker:And sometimes they, uh.
Speaker:The, the lineup of cars just to get in there can be extensive.
Speaker:No, to get into canyons.
Speaker:I mean, because it's really one lane in, one lane out.
Speaker:It, it's, uh, you know, uh, once ski season starts, it's really, really tough.
Speaker:I mean, I, and it's 'cause everybody wants to come up there in the peaks, right?
Speaker:They wanna come up in the peak.
Speaker:They wanna leave in the peak, right?
Speaker:Uh, you know, for those who go up super early or those who wait till the midday,
Speaker:they're probably a little bit happier.
Speaker:They don't have to wait as much traffic.
Speaker:But, you know, and there's lots fill up there as well.
Speaker:A lot of the, uh, resorts have gone to, scheduled parking.
Speaker:Uh, because you know, otherwise you get people waiting outside to get
Speaker:in and they can't even get a space.
Speaker:Hey, I want to congratulate you on your APTA award this year.
Speaker:Tell us about that.
Speaker:Yeah, public transportation system, uh, of the year for, for our class.
Speaker:Really exciting.
Speaker:it means, you know, it means a lot to me, you know, coming here
Speaker:and being here for four years.
Speaker:It means so much to, to our employees.
Speaker:We're, we're treating the APTA Award as the Stanley Cup.
Speaker:It, it's making its way around all the facilities so everybody can
Speaker:take a picture with, uh, with it.
Speaker:Because that's, that's who does the work every day.
Speaker:You know, it's, it's our, it's our operating team.
Speaker:It's all the people that support that operating team on the administrative side.
Speaker:And, uh, you know, I remember when I first got back from, um, Boston where we,
Speaker:where we were, we announced as the winner.
Speaker:Uh, I literally got off the plane, got in my car, went to uh, headquarters, and
Speaker:just took it around headquarters posing with everybody, with a, with a picture.
Speaker:'cause I just, you know, it's just that moment where you
Speaker:wanna celebrate your success.
Speaker:And, uh, you know, I mean, look, our customers appreciate what we do every
Speaker:day, but it's, when you get that external recognition, it makes you feel
Speaker:really good about what you're doing.
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:Well, and it's in recognition of a lot of great stuff.
Speaker:I mean, you've had two successful BRTs, you've really rebounded from the pandemic.
Speaker:You've had a million service miles, uh, in, in April, 2025.
Speaker:Your new track station was built in a year.
Speaker:I mean, tell us some about all that.
Speaker:You've had some great accomplishments over the last year or so.
Speaker:Just to start from the ridership that we had last year, I mean,
Speaker:we're calculating our, you know, to get to 40 and a half million.
Speaker:the per capita usage is just as high as any other major transit system out there.
Speaker:Uh, given the size of our state, to be able to build out yet another BRT, OGX
Speaker:now is in its second year, all electric.
Speaker:You know, you've, you've won this great APTA award and I mean.
Speaker:The accomplishments you've had, Jay, are just phenomenal.
Speaker:You're your two successful BRTs, your rebound in ridership, uh, your million
Speaker:service miles on April, 2025, change day.
Speaker:Your new track station, uh, the South Jordan downtown built in a year.
Speaker:I mean, tell us some about these accomplishments and how you got them done.
Speaker:it's a testament, uh, to, for, to start with how important
Speaker:transit is to the region.
Speaker:You know, you don't, uh, you don't have a lot of state legislators in conservative
Speaker:states that are transit, transit, transit.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:And we, we have that here.
Speaker:Uh, so, you know, the funding, the desire, the desires, I said before
Speaker:for all our communities to, you know, to get more and more in, uh, and, you
Speaker:know, that just creates successes.
Speaker:And it also to the project point that you made, Paul.
Speaker:I think the federal government, the FTA, feel very comfortable
Speaker:investing in UTA 'cause they know we deliver all the time and they know
Speaker:they're going to get the ridership.
Speaker:So it makes them feel very comfortable about, you know, what they're,
Speaker:you know, the bang for the bucks.
Speaker:So you mentioned the two BRTs that we have already, you know, Ogden Express
Speaker:a couple years ago, at first two years, uh, all electric, uh, BRT by the way.
Speaker:And first two years, a million customers a year.
Speaker:Again in a state of three and a half million people.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:That, that's really showing a lot.
Speaker:And then a new one that's coming on, uh, online, that's gonna be done early,
Speaker:uh, mid Valley Express, gonna connect Front Runner out to West Valley, which is
Speaker:connecting to Trax our light rail system that's also gonna connect Olympic venues.
Speaker:Let's go into your background, Jay.
Speaker:Sure.
Speaker:You've had an amazing background in public transportation.
Speaker:You're one of the most prepared CEOs.
Speaker:You know, you, you, you have a legal background like I do, and you'd
Speaker:spent some time in law practice privately and then FAA, FTA, Amtrak,
Speaker:SEPTA, and now Salt Lake City.
Speaker:Tell us about your background and, and what your interest was that drove
Speaker:you to all these different positions.
Speaker:Well, I mean, started with the law career like, like you did Paul,
Speaker:and, um, and eventually led me to engaging with federal agencies, you
Speaker:know, from representing employees when I was in a plaintiff's practice.
Speaker:And that got me to FAA, right?
Speaker:Actually right after 9/11, which was, it was like, if we were talking about that.
Speaker:We'd be talking for a couple hours about all the things
Speaker:that happened right after that.
Speaker:But that, uh, ultimately I made it, uh, you know, I got a background.
Speaker:I came up with personnel law, but then I got a background in procurement and
Speaker:operations and that, you know, led me to the Federal Transit Administration.
Speaker:And, you know, the beauty of Federal Transit Administration is
Speaker:you, you know, now you're touching the world that you're funding.
Speaker:You're there, you're there at ribbon cuttings, you're there on
Speaker:the street and you see the buses come by, you know, on the train.
Speaker:So, and that's what gave me the bug.
Speaker:That gave me the real bug.
Speaker:and then to your point, I just wanted to get lots of different experiences
Speaker:in that world, you know, so when I had that opportunity in Amtrak, that was
Speaker:great to be part of the, you know, the national, the railroad system, and then,
Speaker:uh, going to SEPTA, major, major carrier going through the pandemic at SEPTA.
Speaker:Oh my gosh.
Speaker:Uh, I've seen that, you know, the effects.
Speaker:Uh, I worked harder during the pandemic than I ever worked in my life.
Speaker:You know, it was just, uh, just crazy and, but that wound wound me up here and
Speaker:it's been, uh, it's been a wonderful ride.
Speaker:And, um, we did talk about the Olympics for a little bit.
Speaker:I, I wanna dive into that.
Speaker:You've, you've got, um, Salt Lake City is known for the Olympics.
Speaker:While we were there, we went and actually visited.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Uh, Gavin took us up to, uh, the snow place where the
Speaker:skiing is gonna take place.
Speaker:And we also saw the, um, you know, the cauldron where the,
Speaker:where the Great Olympic flame was.
Speaker:And Mitt Romney really came to the nation's know, you know, knowing about
Speaker:him because he kind of helped come in there and, and helped do that.
Speaker:Tell us about how UTA is preparing for the Olympics that are coming there
Speaker:again, the Winter Olympics in 2034.
Speaker:It seems like a long ways off, but you guys are, you guys are already in
Speaker:preparation and you've already got a lot already prepared from your previous one.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Uh, you know, by the way, you mentioned Mitt Romney, he actually directed traffic
Speaker:at one point in his Olympic games.
Speaker:That's how on ground
Speaker:Talk about doing what has to be done, huh?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:There's a lot of stories about that.
Speaker:No.
Speaker:You know, a wonderful thing about our preparation for the Olympic Games is
Speaker:everything that we had in the plans for what we'd like to do for this games.
Speaker:You know, it was, it was already there.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:It was, it existed.
Speaker:There's one thing that we said, oh, we gotta do this in order to get the games.
Speaker:So that, that was the one thing that we talked about with the IOC.
Speaker:We're ready today.
Speaker:We're ready today.
Speaker:There were projects that we're gonna do that could help, but we're
Speaker:ready to make it happen today.
Speaker:And they came out and they saw our system.
Speaker:They were very impressed with it.
Speaker:Uh, it's gonna be very different Olympics than the last one because last
Speaker:one was mostly park and ride, right?
Speaker:We, we had like just a little bit of rail that was just starting a building
Speaker:that was no commuter rail line that was running in the spine of the system.
Speaker:So we're, we're super.
Speaker:You know, it's gonna be fantastic that, that Front Runner 2X project
Speaker:that I talked about, you know, getting, getting that kind of service, getting
Speaker:into 15 minute service, it's, it's all those are gonna be game changers.
Speaker:All those gonna be important.
Speaker:And so they're all, they're all on the hopper right now.
Speaker:We're, we're hoping to deliver as many as we can by 2034.
Speaker:But again, if it happened today, Paul, we'd be ready to move people.
Speaker:I mean, that's amazing.
Speaker:I've been to several cities lately, including Brisbane and others that are
Speaker:preparing for the Olympics or big games like, uh, the World Cup coming here, and
Speaker:they're still in heavy preparation mode.
Speaker:And to, to have it kind of already done eight years ahead of time or
Speaker:nine years, that's phenomenal man.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:No, I think the whole community, I mean, all the venues are, are there all
Speaker:the, all the hotel space needed for it.
Speaker:I think they feel, you know, that doesn't mean that we don't have a lot of planning
Speaker:to go over the, the, the years ahead.
Speaker:Uh, but it's nice to have, you already built all those pieces of
Speaker:infrastructure that are gonna be needed to drive the Olympics forward.
Speaker:Next year I'm hoping to do a documentary on, um.
Speaker:called, What's Wrong with Transit America?
Speaker:Why less than 5% of Americans ride transit regularly.
Speaker:Uh, but one thing that's become clear as we've done research
Speaker:for this is that people do ride transit during big events, right?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Whether it's the Super Bowl, the World Cup, or the Olympics.
Speaker:I mean, that's where really, we shine and we get a lot of people kind of trying
Speaker:it or testing it during those times.
Speaker:I'll tell you.
Speaker:Here's my, here's my solution to what you're talking about.
Speaker:You know, get, uh, you have a transit system.
Speaker:Make sure every major university in your area, including even the school districts,
Speaker:have passes for your transit system.
Speaker:Get those fare agreements down.
Speaker:Get 'em writing on transit, because if they write on transit when they're
Speaker:kids or when they're a university students, they will stay on transit.
Speaker:That's the beauty.
Speaker:They, they, that university population has driven our ridership forward.
Speaker:They,
Speaker:is that right?
Speaker:And they, yeah.
Speaker:They, they take it.
Speaker:I mean, our number is going up to the University of Utah to BYU.
Speaker:I mean that Bus Rapid Transit I talked about before down in the Provo area
Speaker:uh, uh, UVX that connects, uh, the Utah Valley University and BYU to, uh, two
Speaker:separate locations to Front Runner.
Speaker:I mean, you know, uh, it's, that's, that's how you get people riding transit is,
Speaker:you know, get 'em used to, to doing it.
Speaker:Uh, and much easier to get the young person to get used to riding transit and
Speaker:continue to do that over their lifetime than trying to get somebody that as
Speaker:mature as you and me to convert over.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Uh, to, to transit.
Speaker:You're gonna be, you're gonna be a lot easier to do that.
Speaker:That's interesting.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Let's talk about the economic impact.
Speaker:The value that transit in general has.
Speaker:I mean, we know that we're talking about how people ride for events,
Speaker:but the day-to-day usage of transit, particularly there, I mean, how
Speaker:many jobs do you have with that you say are supported by what you do?
Speaker:Yeah, we, we create, create, uh, directly or indirectly to 79,000 jobs just by
Speaker:having our system out there, really just by the operations of the system.
Speaker:Yeah, and I, I think you're raising a really good point, Paul.
Speaker:You know, we're, we're, we're transit geeks, right?
Speaker:We've been around transit for a while.
Speaker:We're turned on by mobility, we're turned on by accessibility.
Speaker:Um, but there are a lot of people who are on the investment side,
Speaker:you know, in, in those state houses or even in local electeds.
Speaker:They, they want to see what's the economic return.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:And, and I think that we as an industry are really focused on that now.
Speaker:And so we spend a lot of time doing it here.
Speaker:You know, how much, how much do we return to the state treasury?
Speaker:How much, just on a basic, you know, you know, $1 invested return, do
Speaker:you get, uh, it's important because.
Speaker:I, I told you before, we have a $483 million operating budget.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Uh, what's that returning, you know?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Because if it's, if it's in multiples, you know, and we have it as, as,
Speaker:uh, o over a multiple of five, that's a lot back to the community.
Speaker:So we have a two mile of our 131 miles of rail.
Speaker:We have a two mile streetcar line into the Sugar House district here.
Speaker:Uh, in Salt Lake City.
Speaker:It costs about $60 million to build.
Speaker:That's a big investment, right?
Speaker:The University of Utah did a study, $2 billion in economic return.
Speaker:Over, you know, over that time period, in fact,
Speaker:from a $60 million investment.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I would love to send you a picture.
Speaker:I'm sure we can arrange to have that.
Speaker:It shows what that area looked like 10 years ago when it looks like now, like
Speaker:literally just a freight over, it's the industrial desert turned into this,
Speaker:you know, like developed Mecca, right?
Speaker:And that's what transit does it.
Speaker:It makes a big difference whether it's creating jobs, whether it's just moving
Speaker:goods and services in a much easier fashion because you're pulling people off
Speaker:of those roads and putting 'em on transit.
Speaker:It's, um, it, it, it creates so much for the community as well as also,
Speaker:you know, the cost of cost avoidance.
Speaker:You know, that's less wear and tear on the highways, less wear and tear on
Speaker:your cars, you know, that's, uh, but you gotta calculate those numbers 'cause
Speaker:that's what the investors care about.
Speaker:With that.
Speaker:We don't pay an earnings per share.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:We pay in return.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:And we're no different than, than fire and police and all the other
Speaker:critical infrastructure in that way.
Speaker:Let me walk you through some of the numbers.
Speaker:I've, I've found when I did some research here and tell me if these numbers sound
Speaker:right, I saw that $9.6 billion more in goods and services generated by the state
Speaker:of Utah due the time and mileage savings.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:It's an incredible number.
Speaker:You know, again, it, it's, you know, it's the.
Speaker:That's what I call getting those, those freight trucks
Speaker:through quick, quicker, right.
Speaker:That's the simplest, you know, you pull people off onto transit and
Speaker:the trucks can't go on transit.
Speaker:So, you know, uh, you know, so that's, that's the way to make it happen.
Speaker:So it's, it's a huge number, but, uh, it, it's, it's part of my little
Speaker:game, Paul, where I would love to turn off the transit system for a
Speaker:week and everybody would get it.
Speaker:They would get it immediately
Speaker:Absence makes the hard grow fonder exactly $377 million in tax revenue flowing back
Speaker:to local, state and federal coffers.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And you know what the, the value of that statistic, Paul, is
Speaker:that if you never ride transit.
Speaker:Or, or if you're an area that doesn't have transit, but you're
Speaker:still in the same state, you're still getting a benefit from it.
Speaker:It's going back to the treasury that's, that's helping state parks, that's
Speaker:helping, you know, subsidy programs for, for people all around state
Speaker:agriculture, you know, so it's, it's all that, all that is circular, right?
Speaker:And so even again, if, even if you're not part of a place that has transit,
Speaker:but you're part of a state that's benefiting from transit, you're
Speaker:gonna find that money back to you.
Speaker:The last number that I find fantastic is the $500, 500% ROI.
Speaker:$1 invested in UTA generates $5.11 in economic return.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And I don't think, and UTA is not, um, you know, we're not the exception there.
Speaker:I mean, that's, I think that's transit across the country.
Speaker:We've seen that number before.
Speaker:But again, it helps, helps our, our agency justify, you know, its budget.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:You know, not only are we employing all these people, so there's
Speaker:an economic benefit to that.
Speaker:Uh, but you know, we're that every, every dollar that's coming into our,
Speaker:our agency is returning in multiples.
Speaker:Jay, one last question.
Speaker:I wanted to, uh, circle back on the Olympic preparation, um,
Speaker:'cause I forgot about this one.
Speaker:Aren't you guys working with Milan and LA to help prepare some.
Speaker:Yeah, no, I mean, you know, uh, I mean, LA's getting ready for the 28th summer
Speaker:Olympics, so they're already looking to a lot of agencies around the country.
Speaker:Not only, you know, for personnel support, for vehicle support,
Speaker:because they're not gonna have enough vehicles run by themselves.
Speaker:You know, nor, nor did we in 2002, we, we, we got both.
Speaker:Rail and bus, uh, buses that came in.
Speaker:Uh, so, you know, so we're working with the LA Metro team
Speaker:and the LA 28 organization.
Speaker:And then, um, our, um, our Olympic organizing, um, uh, committee
Speaker:is going to go participate in observer program in Milan.
Speaker:So there's a couple of us that are going out there.
Speaker:Look at mountain operations, and I would love to tell you it's a vacation,
Speaker:but it is anything but I, I, I really.
Speaker:Got like the itinerary, uh, uh, if I can sneak off to one
Speaker:hockey game, I'll be lucky.
Speaker:So, yeah, it's gonna be very busy, but we'll get a lot out of it,
Speaker:you know, so we're, we're excited.
Speaker:Absolutely excited about being
Speaker:You will, I just got back from there.
Speaker:As you know, I was in Milan, uh, covering for our Transit Unplugged TV show, which
Speaker:is live now, uh, on YouTube for people.
Speaker:And we got to ride their transit.
Speaker:I went to the airport riding their, you know, unmanned, uh, high speed underground
Speaker:metro system and show people okay.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:When you get to the airport, come right here to this location and
Speaker:go downstairs, uh, and get on the train and take it to there.
Speaker:I mean, uh, they've got it.
Speaker:They're, they're ready.
Speaker:I mean, it's right happening.
Speaker:And that was my request.
Speaker:Uh, out of the, you know, the organizing committee was like,
Speaker:you know, what do you want to see?
Speaker:As, you know, the executive director, my chief operations officer will be there.
Speaker:We want to, we, we wanna be in front of that transit agency.
Speaker:Agency, excuse me, as much as possible.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:We want to be there, uh, because we wanna learn as much as we can from
Speaker:them as we get ready for our own.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So that is the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:That'll be 26, uh, flying out on February 1st.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:That's great, man.
Speaker:Well, this is good.
Speaker:Uh, for those of you who have listened to the podcast today and
Speaker:wanna actually see what Jay's been talking about, we're you're gonna
Speaker:have the opportunity to do so.
Speaker:This is, um, a podcast which goes along with our upcoming television show.
Speaker:Transit Unplugged TV featuring Salt Lake City and the, um, Utah Transit
Speaker:Authority that'll air in February, 2025 on YouTube, on the Transportation
Speaker:Channel, on Apple TV, and a bunch of other places where we're now streaming.
Speaker:Uh, look up Transit Unplugged TV.
Speaker:You'll be able to see where the, that avalanche road Jay talked about.
Speaker:You'll be able to see, uh, that ride the transit and meet some
Speaker:of the leaders of his agency.
Speaker:By the way, Jay, you've got some great leaders that we
Speaker:were able to interview there.
Speaker:Oh my gosh.
Speaker:It's such a great team and their commitment.
Speaker:I, I, you know, I think when you go to a transit agency and you
Speaker:can read a little bit of the tea leaves, you can get a sense, I.
Speaker:The commitment here to customer service every day is, and, and, and,
Speaker:and moving people is tremendous.
Speaker:I, I do it this way.
Speaker:I, you know, I've been around transit long enough that I've
Speaker:been in a lot of boardrooms.
Speaker:I, the, the amount of positive.
Speaker:Positive public comment is unbelievable here.
Speaker:It's really, I like
Speaker:I heard about that.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:You go in, I mean, look, there are people, or you know, at any, any world, you know,
Speaker:you're, you're gonna have people that, uh, that are upset about something or detract.
Speaker:But we get such strong support from the community.
Speaker:We, we get these constituent reports in.
Speaker:So many people are really happy with what they're doing, and they take the time to
Speaker:tell you it's, that's, it's even better.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:So, wonderful.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:That's great.
Speaker:The other thing I was gonna mention was the last thing that people could
Speaker:see when they watch it is in your shop.
Speaker:We went down and there's an amazing, uh, bus shop.
Speaker:You've got a new facility there, uh, a newer facility.
Speaker:And, uh, the underground pits are one big room.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And, uh, I've never seen that before.
Speaker:I mean, that was pretty phenomenal.
Speaker:Yeah, that's, uh, you know, that's our depot district new, new bus facility
Speaker:as part of our Salt Lake service unit.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:That's great.
Speaker:And you know, one thing I hope you saw down there as well, is
Speaker:our rollout of our strategic plan.
Speaker:Oh.
Speaker:Which is all, you know, all designed, you know, to, to, uh, push it as far
Speaker:forward to the frontline as we can.
Speaker:Even though even our mission statement "We Move You" was designed to, you
Speaker:know, so that every single person and they do knows what our mission is.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:And it's a bit interpretive too.
Speaker:I like to think as we as, it's not just we at UTA, but it's we, our
Speaker:communities, it's we, you know, our, our elected leaders, everybody together,
Speaker:working together and make this happen.
Speaker:So, no, I think, uh, I think when you go out in our organization, you see.
Speaker:A, a, um, a unified feel, uh, which is what I preached from day one here,
Speaker:which is let's, let's always think of ourselves in a 1400 square mile
Speaker:service area, this huge service area as one UTA one UTA all the time.
Speaker:Love it.
Speaker:Jay, thanks so much for sharing with us some of the amazing
Speaker:work you're doing there at UTA.
Speaker:We wish you the very best as you head into, uh, the new year.
Speaker:Yeah, Paul, thanks so much for having me again.
Speaker:I, I really appreciate it and thanks for getting me, you know,
Speaker:allowing me to probe about my agency.
Speaker:Love it.
Speaker:Thank you for listening to this episode of Transit Unplugged, the world's
Speaker:number one transit executive podcast.
Speaker:I'm Julie Gates, executive producer of the podcast.
Speaker:Many thanks to the team that makes this show happen.
Speaker:Host and producer Paul Comfort, producer Chris O'Keeffe, editor
Speaker:Patrick Emile, associate producer Cyndi Raskin, and consultants Dan Meisner
Speaker:and Jonas Woos at Bumper Transit.
Speaker:Transit Unplugged is being brought to you by Modaxo.
Speaker:Passionate about moving the world's people.
Speaker:If you would enjoy behind the scenes insights and updates from the show,
Speaker:sign up for our weekly newsletter, which has links to can't-miss conversations
Speaker:with the biggest names in mobility.
Speaker:Head to transitunplugged.com and scroll to the bottom of the page to sign up.
Speaker:Thanks for listening, and we'll catch you on the next episode of Transit Unplugged.
