Bus Riders Protest UTA
Mar 25, 2008 by Elizabeth Ziegler
(KCPW News) Advocates for low-income bus riders don't believe the Attorney General's Office thoroughly considered their request for an investigation of the Utah Transit Authority, after last year's bus-service overhaul. Linda Parsons, director for Utah Jobs with Justice, says the state's low-income transit riders deserve an investigation.
"It's public money that's being spent on all of these projects the UTA is doing. And taxpayers money is important. If it's misused, we should know about that. And we should care to know about that. We don't have that much money," Parsons says.
Jobs with Justice and Salt Lake's Transit Rider Union asked for the investigation last week. Their concerns stem from a legislative audit published in January, which revealed inflated ridership numbers and large executive bonuses. This, during a period in which the UTA cut bus routes and restricted late-night service hours. Attorney General Mark Shurtleff says a one-day review of the audit uncovered nothing criminal. At a demonstration staged yesterday [Monday] in the Capitol Rotunda, Transit Rider Union organizer Tammi Diaz criticized Shurtleff's decision against investigating the UTA.
"Apparently, Attorney General Shurtleff hears no evil, speaks no evil, sees no evil when it comes to UTA," says Diaz.
Transit Riders Union members plan another demonstration at UTA's public hearing tomorrow about extending Trax to the airport. They feel UTA is favoring projects that don't benefit low-income riders, such as adding new light-rail lines instead of new bus routes.
Email to a friendPosted in KCPW Newsroom. Copyright 2008 KCPW
1. John D. said:
The Transit Riders Union and Jobs for Justice are climbing the wrong tree. First of all TRAX is a success despite what some say and cost substantially less per passenger than the bus. The money to build the lines is coming from Tax dollars the voters on themselves.
If the money wasn't be used for new TRAX lines it wouldn't exist. The money is not coming from bus operations.
Of course we already know that they will make packs with the devil to get their way so they cannot be trusted.
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