| OCR Text |
Show , PporaG ESjGs3 Far WOSELYN KIRK WMFUL-Utah Tran-niys Tran-niys bid for a no-ff-peak bus trial Miration (ailed last "wife Wasatch Front al Council (WFRC) against the proposal for m lime, in an 8-8 vote 1 vote is interpreted as council members ' and Weber Coun-; Coun-; "Acaied that the ',,l0,'se Proposal made Transit Authority ;y 10 decrease the ration hours did not .:; '"'decision to oppose '"general. ACTI0N by the council "dative vote ' -fo? emons'ration by .1,.Kl- ;o months aeo ministration would be reluctant reluc-tant to approve the $720,000 grant if all counties did not favor the one year demonstration. demon-stration. The day before the WFRC met, the UTA board had compromised their decision and voted to change the demonstration time from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays to 9 to 3 p.m. in the hope that WFRC would change their vote. UTA BOARD president Glenn Goodrich said that the hour change would eliminate the problem of requiring local funding to pay some of the demonstration costs. The voting wjs along county lines with Davis and Weber counties voting against the proposal and Salt Lake County representatives in favor. Commissioner C.E. Moss, Davis County commissioner commis-sioner and chairman of the WFRC, questioned whether Davis County representatives should not have to go back to those councils for another vote since the proposal had changed since the original proposal. INSTEAD counties called for a caucus to talk over the matter before the vote. Mr. Goodrich said the compromise proposal would drop the cost of the demonstration demon-stration from $737,529 to $549,414. The federal mass transit administration would allow the 20 percent local matching funds required to be met through survey work so that no local cash would be required for the project, he said. But the hours or the funding seemed not to be the central issue. Weber County Commissioner Com-missioner Keith Jensen said, "We are against no-fare in any way, shape or form." Ogden Mayor Stephen Dirks added. "I am opposed to the way no-fare is coming through the backdoor." UTA BOARD member Jeannine Rokich told the WFRC that the demonstration grant was not a proposal to "get a foot in the door tor a pernament no-fare system. "We are more interested in an increase in ridership than anything. Many people who board the bus when it's free will stay with us." She said that the contract requires that after the year demonstration, fares must be increased during the next six months to determine whether ridership has increased. The compromise had been reached to bring the counties together. But instead, compromise decision to change hours had alienated Rep. Sam Taylor, previously a strong proponent for the demonstration. HE URGED the WFRC to vote against the demonstration demonstra-tion grant and allow the money to go to Denver which is "whole-hearted" in favoring favor-ing longer no-fare hours and weekend no-fare rates. "Let Denver have the grant. Give it to them and let them have the success they want," he said. Prior to the vote. Salt Lake Mayor Ted Wilson had argued that unless public transit expanded, ex-panded, Salt Lake City would have the Environmental Protection Pro-tection Agency on their back. He urged a "positive approach to air quality problems." ALTHOUGH several Weber and Davis County officials had argued that the 1971 referendum vote against no-fare no-fare required them to vote against the demonstration. Mayor Wilson said that the demonstration as a trial did not violate the voice of the people. "It is a logical step in going back to the people for another vote," he said. Mayor Dirks, in opposition, argued that the WFRC couldn't dismiss the referendum referen-dum vote on no-fare. After the negative vote. Salt Lake City and county supporters questioned ques-tioned whether Salt Lake County could apply for the demonstration grant in that county alone. There was agreement that any action for that application would have to come betore the Salt Lake County COG and not the WFRC. EARLIER MR. Goodrich had said that funds could be held only through April I. The UTA Board strongly favored "keeping the transit district as one," he said. "The Urban Mass Transit Administration is reluctant to function in any demonstration where there is sensitivity in the three county area," he said. |
