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Pros and Cons of Public Transportation in Utah

Recently I went to Salt Lake City on two different days in the same week.  I almost always drive when I go to Salt Lake, but one day, I took the train (Frontrunner) and Trax (light rail).  I had never done it before so it was enlightening.

I love to analyze the most efficient way to do something so here are my conclusions:


1.  Public transportation takes longer.  Maybe someday this won't be true but the traffic here is not bad enough yet, that it's faster to take the train.  Taking Frontrunner takes about 2x as long as it does driving with no traffic--if everything goes smoothly.  One way took 1.5 hours.

Driving in the car took 50 minutes with minimal traffic at midday.  Unfortunately the traffic was much heavier on my way home (and there's construction) and it took me about 15 minutes longer.  But it was still shorter than the 1.5 hours on public transportation.

2.  It is definitely more pleasant to travel on the train than drive in the car.  I especially hated driving home when the traffic was bad.  When I took the train and Trax, I was able to read fairly peacefully.  When I took the bus, I didn't read because I was concerned with getting off at the right stop.  As it happened, I still got off one stop too soon.  Rookie mistake.

3.  Parking isn't a problem in SLC yet.  I actually took the train thinking I would have a hard time finding a place to park near my destination.  I was wrong.  The parking was right next door and at a very reasonable price--$5 for the day.

4.  Driving your own car is only slightly more expensive.  Taking the train cost me $11 roundtrip.   My little car gets about 30 mpg and my destination was about 90 miles round-trip.  With gas close to $2 a gallon, this is about $7 in gas.  Parking would have made it $12 plus the wear and tear on the car (and driver).


5.  Frontrunner is a nice option for getting someone to the airport.  Recently my son took the train to the airport and that worked well.  The timing didn't work out very well for his return trip (he just barely missed the train and would have had to wait another hour--so we ended up picking him up.)

Bottom-line: For me, time away from home is critical so I will drive unless it is absolutely necessary not to.  For someone who has to make that daily commute and doesn't have to transfer, I could see the train being the more desirable way to travel.  



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