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Latest News

• "Group pursues Denver-to-Seattle passenger train" Casper Star-Tribune, 28 December 2000. The Montana/Wyoming Association of Railroad Passengers plans to lobby the Legislature for support of a Denver-to-Seattle passenger train route.
• "Utah Growth: No Slowing" Salt Lake Tribune, 28 December 2000.
• ST GEORGE -- "Dixie transit looks for riders: Lack of signs, benches deters passengers" Deseret News, 23 December 2000.
• SALT LAKE CITY -- "TRAX to keep rollingon Sundays in 2001; As part of the plan, UTA to start Sunday bus service in April" Deseret News 22 December 2000. QUOTE: "The Utah Transit Authority will continue to provide TRAX light-rail service on Sundays, on a permanent basis, in the new year."
• "Legacy Clears First Big Hurdle" Salt Lake Tribune, 21 December 2000. QUOTES: "The Army Corps of Engineers approved the Legacy Highway on Wednesday, leaving only a possible veto by the Environmental Protection Agency to block the state from building the 14-mile freeway from Salt Lake City to Farmington... Environmentalists and mass-transit advocates immediately served notice that they would sue to block destruction of 114 acres of wetlands along the Great Salt Lake unless the EPA vetoes the initial $370 million segment. A key weapon in that fight will be the fact that the federal Clean Water Act prohibits destroying wetlands unless it is for the "least damaging practicable alternative," which opponents argue would be a rail-transit system."
• "Christmas crowds pack TRAX to the max" Deseret News, 20 December 2000. QUOTE: "Holiday shoppers, concert-goers and Christmas light-seekers help make the holiday season -- well, crowded -- particularly on TRAX light-rail trains. According to the Utah Transit Authority, ridership on the system last Saturday was among the highest single-day totals since TRAX opened on Dec. 6 of last year, possibly among the top five days in TRAX history. TRAX use was particularly heavy during the evening Saturday because of several events taking place downtown."
• "Amtrak's Vegas Delays Are as Slow as Desert Tortoise: Protected reptile is an obstacle, but safety issues also are delaying the route's debut." Los Angeles Times 17 December 2000. QUOTE: "Amtrak wants to resume service. It has spent more than $15 million on train cars intended for use on that route, and late last year publicly announced resumption of service for September 2000. But it didn't happen, nor is it likely to happen in 2001. It's a many-sided problem, involving desert tortoises, Spanish engineering, the Union Pacific Railroad and various tentacles of the federal government. "
• "Full-Steam Ahead! Train Will Run for 2002 Events" Salt Lake Tribune, 14 December 2000. QUOTE: "HEBER CITY -- Utah's only surviving historic passenger railroad is back on track to shuttle people to and from Olympic events at Soldier Hollow during 2002."
• "A successful year for TRAX" Deseret News, 10 December 2000. QUOTE: "One year ago, the TRAX light-rail system began operating amid some trepidation. A small but vocal opposition predicted accidents, fatalities, traffic congestion and declining ridership. Some Utahns were uncertain. Today, they know better."
• " 3 Hybrid Buses Joining UTA Fleet" Salt Lake Tribune, 8 December 2000.
• "TRAX to Increase Holiday Runs as Popularity Exceeds Expectations" Salt Lake Tribune, 6 December 2000.
• "Bo-o-ard! Counties approve UTA tax" Deseret News, 8 November 2000. QUOTE: " West Jordan, West Valley City and Draper, prepare yourselves for light rail. Ogden, the commuter train is on the way. Davis County, you might receive both. Plus, an expanded bus system with more routes and more frequent service, Sunday and holiday hours, extended weeknight service and -- according to proponents of Measure One -- an enhanced quality of life for Salt Lake, Davis and Weber counties are on the way. Voters in all three counties Tuesday approved a quarter-cent-per-dollar sales tax increase to implement the public transit component of a 20-year regional transportation improvement plan."
• 'Facts' flung in transit tax debate: Friends, foes agree on transit need but disagree on taxes Deseret News, 27 October 2000. QUOTE: "The debate over the proposed quarter-cent sales tax hike in Salt Lake, Davis and Weber counties is not about the need for an expanded regional transit system. It's about how to pay for it."
• "UTA seeks exclusive rail tracks Funds needed for a commuter line, legislators told" Deseret News, 22 October 2000.
• "Lawmakers to get preview of S.L.-Ogden train: UTA borrows cars from Washington for Tuesday run" Deseret News, 16 October 2000. QUOTE: "A diesel train more accustomed to the haul from Tacoma, Wash., to Seattle will take invited guests from Salt Lake City to Ogden on Tuesday in a special demonstration of commuter-rail technology."
• "Support is building for light-rail tax, fluoridation" Deseret News, 1 October 2000. QUOTE: ""Eight years after voters rejected a tax hike to pay for a light-rail mass transit system, the trains are up and running in Salt Lake County. But will that make residents along the Wasatch Front any more receptive to a sales tax increase for transit improvements?
• "UTA getting funds to help buy rail land Route in Davis, Weber could offer commuter service" Deseret News, 29 September 2000. QUOTE: "The U.S. Department of Transportation awarded the equivalent of $11.5 million to UTA on Thursday to help purchase 23.3 miles of abandoned rail right of way for a future Wasatch Front commuter-rail system."
• "Davis officials seek light rail: Some say it would be a better option than commuter rail line" Deseret News, 28 September 2000. QUOTE: "Davis County officials have asked the Wasatch Front Regional Council to consider including a light-rail spur from Salt Lake City as part of its regional transportation plan to be funded by a proposed sales tax increase."
• "Poll backs commuter rail -- if it's fast and cheap" Deseret News, 7 August 2000. QUOTE: "More than 85 percent of the people surveyed by Top of Utah Research said commuter rail is a good or excellent idea. The approval jumped to 98 percent for people who work in Salt Lake County. Two-thirds of those surveyed said they're willing to pay a quarter-cent sales tax increase to help fund rail and other transit programs."

31 August 2000

• REPORT: "A Plan To Reorganize Amtrak" from the United Rail Passenger Alliance; by Andrew C. Selden.
  QUOTE: "On the assumption that Congress wished to end its subsidization of NRPC by FY 2002 rather than merely relabel it, this report proposes a reorganization of NRPC that will largely achieve the Congressional goal of ending federal subsidization of intercity rail passenger operations in most markets. A specific plan is proposed as well as a transitional strategy to achieve it. The theoretical foundation for a genuinely successful rail intercity service is outlined, and examples -- including a specific precedent and model for the plan proposed -- are given.
  "The basic concept of this plan is to reorganize the NRPC by dividing it into a half dozen of its major component parts, and to spin off those major elements into autonomous, competitive entities (leaving the Northeast Corridor in the hands of the current NRPC entity and management), on the model of the highly successful 1984 breakup of AT&T Corp. Significant, self-financed growth is forecast for the spun-off entities, especially the component providing a national system of long distance interregional services."

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