UTA's Bus Rapid Transit Line is yet to be completed but, by removing fares, the service has quintupled its ridership.
Provo made its bus free, and now ridership is way up. The Utah Transit Authority has not yet completed its bus stops, but "a fivefold increase occurred in the first month of its new Utah Valley Express (UVX), a bus rapid transit route in Provo and Orem — which, for now, is free for everyone and offers service every six minutes at peak times (and every 10 minutes at off-peak times)," Lee Davidson reports.
When the bus rapid transit line was initially proposed it was not without controversy. Some sued to try and stop the line from being built complaining that it would harm the flow of traffic. "The route has yet to use priority control at traffic signals to speed it along," Davidson reports, but so far, its impact on traffic seems to be putting more people on the bus.
Read the full story: UTA finds a way to fill buses — offer free fare and frequent service
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