Guiding Our Growth: The Future of Transportation in Utah

Utah is a land of opportunities, including jobs, education, recreation, and more. But it’s not enough for these opportunities to simply exist. They must be easy to get to.

How easily Utahns can travel from place to place impacts their employment options, free time, household budgets, stress levels, and overall quality of life. The more time spent in traffic, the less time there is for enjoyable activities, like family gatherings or recreation.

An efficient transportation system is critical to enhancing Utah’s already-high quality of life and to supporting its robust economy. Creating and maintaining that system requires careful planning. Utah has invested significantly in transportation over the last 30 years, and these investments will need to continue. As it grows, Utah’s transportation system needs to evolve, and these changes should be strategic and deliberate in order to sufficiently meet the challenges that come with growth.

All Utahns are invited to share opinions and suggestions about population growth and how to cope with related issues, like roadway congestion and expanding transportation choices, by completing the “Guiding Our Growth” survey.

Transportation Choices for All People

One “size,” or travel mode, does not “fit all” when it comes to transportation, and this will become even more evident as the population increases.

“Providing a holistic transportation system for all Utahns is critical to our future,” said Carlos Braceras, Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) executive director. “We want to offer multiple travel choices so everyone in Utah can get where they want, when they want, in the way they want–safely.”

How individuals choose to get from place to place depends on where and how they live, but travel trends show that Utahns increasingly desire a variety of transportation options, including driving, riding transit, walking, and biking. State and local leaders are working to offer more transportation options through initiatives like the UDOT’s Utah Trail Network, a system of paved trails that will connect Utahns of all ages and abilities to their destinations and communities throughout the state. Agencies like the Utah Transit Authority are also adding travel options through expanded train and bus service.

“Travel choices can help alleviate the pressures of population growth,” said Ted Knowlton, Wasatch Front Regional Council deputy director. “If long-time residents and new Utahns all drive the same route on the same road to get where they need to go all of the time, then everyone will feel more crowded. If, instead, transportation is spread out between roads, trains, buses, bike paths, and sidewalks, roadways will be less jammed and growth will feel more manageable.”

A multi-modal transportation system is interconnected, and the availability of one mode of travel affects the other modes. Even those who don’t ride transit benefit from a good transit system because every person on a train or bus means one less person in a car. And fewer cars on the road means better traffic flow and better air quality.

It’s still possible for those who choose to travel by personal vehicle to reduce pressure on the overall transportation system by choosing to carpool or combine small trips into a trip chain.

Increasing the availability of travel choices requires careful collaboration between local and state transportation efforts, which is the goal of Utah’s Unified Transportation Plan. This statewide plan considers growth projections, funding sources, emerging technologies, and the impacts of potential policies, like tolling, zero-fare transit, and electric vehicle incentives. The plan provides a vision for travel in Utah that will preserve the quality of life statewide.

The Great Connection: Transportation and Land Use

While infrastructure investments will remain an important piece of Utah’s transportation future, doing this at the level required to serve every Utahn can result in significant financial and environmental costs. But those impacts depend a lot on the way communities are built. As an example, urban residents might have to travel longer distances if housing, jobs, and shopping are each in a different area of the city. This would keep some traffic from going through residential areas, but would also require longer trips. Cities might consider bringing housing, jobs, and shopping opportunities together into town centers and main streets so people don’t have to drive as far and have walking, biking, and public transit options. Some of Utah’s communities are working with metropolitan planning agencies to envision and plan for these “community centers.” One example is the Wasatch Front area’s Wasatch Choice Vision initiative.

Additional transportation choices, like walking, biking, and riding transit, can also reduce the demand for new highways and parking. Multiple travel options can reduce transportation costs for households, and individuals who still choose to drive have shorter travel times and distances, requiring less money for fuel.

Safety and Health

Transportation safety is another factor to consider as the number of people using Utah’s transportation system increases. If streets don’t feel safe for walking and biking, then those choices are not viable. Travel safety in Utah is the focus of a variety of programs. For example, Zero Fatalities promotes safe behaviors with the goal of eliminating deaths on Utah’s roadways. Ensuring better, safer access to Utah’s transportation system, particularly for pedestrians and bicyclists, is an ongoing effort. Fortunately, new federal money has been earmarked for transportation safety improvement planning throughout Utah as part of the Safe Streets for All grant program, funded by the federal 2022 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The hope is that such investments will ultimately decrease the safety concerns that limit walking and biking.

Solutions to Utah’s transportation challenges must also weigh impacts on the health of individuals and communities. Transportation choices, like walking or biking, positively affect travelers’ exercise levels and even reduce the amount of pollutants released into the air. The way forward will likely include prudently building more streets, trails, and transit lines while also improving the existing transportation system to help provide more realistic options for all Utahns.

Every Utahn should have convenient, comfortable, and safe access to travel choices.

Guiding Our Growth

Making wise choices about the future of Utah’s transportation system is important to the long-term well-being of residents throughout the state. State and local leaders are committed to looking ahead, proactively gathering public input, and planning for the future. That’s what “Guiding Our Growth” looks like. It’s having a statewide conversation about the impacts of Utah’s population growth and working together to preserve Utah’s unique quality of life.