By DENAE BYBEE

More people. More cars. More traffic. More stress.

The Utah Transit Authority is planning the future of Utah's transit, with population growth in mind.

When their plans are complete, residents in Provo will be able to travel to the Salt Lake Airport on public transit.

When FrontRunner - the commuter rail - is completed, it will go from Brigham City to Payson, said Chad Saley, UTA spokesperson.

The northern portion of FrontRunner, from Brigham City to downtown Salt Lake City, was funded first.

The passage of the quarter cent sales tax increase in Weber, Davis and Salt Lake Counties allowed construction to start now, without waiting for federal funding, and should be finished by late 2008.

Authorities first predicted there would be 6,000 riders on any given day, but after a re-evaluation, they are increasing their estimations to nearly 8,000 riders a day.

When open, FrontRunner north will have a four-car train, one locomotive and three passenger cars - two of which will be two levels and hold 200 passengers, Saley said.

The diesel-electric locomotive runs on a traditional heavy rail, which is louder than light rail.

There is no need for people living along the line to worry though, Saley said. Near-by residents won't be affected by the noise because the UTA is implementing "quiet zones."

"Quiet zones" are made by placing crossing arms in both directions at all railroad crossings, and eliminating the required number of safety horn blasts at crossings without arms -which causes most of the noise.

Since FrontRunner uses the same right-of-way as the freight trains, the quiet zones will apply for both, cutting down the noise, Saley said.

"You still get the ding, ding, ding, as the crossing arms go down, but trains can go right through without sounding their horn," Saley said.

The 44-mile trip on FrontRunner north and 43-mile trip on FrontRunner south will each take 50-55 minutes, which is faster than driving it during peak hours, Saley said.

The locomotive is designed for speeds up to 69 mph, compared to the light rail's top speed of 55 mph. It also takes longer to speed up and slow to a stop, with 5-7 miles between stops, whereas the light rail stops are 1-2 miles apart.

FrontRunner south will continue from Salt Lake City to Provo and construction should be completed in five years, Saley said.

The Utah County I-15 widening project is dependent on federal funding, so UTA authorities said they are hoping to have FrontRunner completed before then. People can use the commuter rail as an alternative during the reconstruction.

FrontRunner works easily with a population increase. If needed, more cars can be added to the train in the single lane of rail, or more trains can run more often, Saley said.

The UTA will build five projects by 2015: FrontRunner south and four light rail extensions: the airport, the West Valley City, West Jordan and Draper extensions.

Saley said that when their plans are completed, Utah County residents will be able to get from Provo to the Salt Lake City Airport, and not have to worry about parking.

Light Rail, or TRAX, will be making its way to Draper first, then around the Point of the Mountain on the east side of I-15 to Lehi and American Fork.

Saley said the long-range plan for Utah County's light rail will go to Provo/Orem, but no timeline has been established.

The light rail system is a modern version of the streetcar, with overhead electrical wires that power the cars.

TRAX can run with one car, like a streetcar, or more, as the demand dictates, Saley said.

Each car has two cabs that are the operating compartments, allowing it to run both ways independently.

Seating capacity is 64 passengers, but 184 passengers can fit with standing room.

Another new transit system, the Bus Rapid Transit, will open at3500 South in April 2008.

"Essentially, [BRT] is light rail with rubber tires," Saley said.

The bus will eventually have a designated lane, or guideway, and priority with traffic lights like TRAX has in downtown Salt Lake City.

BRT runs every 15 minutes or less.

If there is an accident along the guideway, the bus can drive around it instead of being stopped and delayed like along light rail's tracks.

Tickets will be available through onsite vending machines much like at TRAX stations. Stops will have canopies covering the benches.

BRT systems are adaptable for use in conjunction with other transit systems.

Saley said that the Mountain View Corridor west of I-15, will have the road component with a transit system alongside it which could be TRAX, BRT or buses.

Multiple transit and vehicle modes come together at Intermodal Hubs.

These "stations" allow passengers to switch from one form of transport to another.

The hub in Salt Lake City will accommodate FrontRunner, Amtrak, UTA buses, Greyhound buses, pedestrians and motorists.

Utah County's intermodal hubs will accommodate BRT, UTA buses and FrontRunner, Saley said.

Two locations are planned west of I-15 at Vineyard and in Orem at University Parkway, across from UVSC; a third will be east of I-15 in Provo at University Avenue.

Copyright Brigham Young University 7 Aug 2007