Transmittal - 12/12/2022ERIN MENDENHALL DEPARTMENT of COMMUNITY
Mayor and NEIGHBORHOODS
Blake Thomas
Director
SALT LAKE CITY CORPORATION
451 SOUTH STATE STREET, ROOM 404 WWW.SLC.GOV
P.O. BOX 145486, SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH 84114-5486 TEL 801.535.6230 FAX 801.535.6005
CITY COUNCIL TRANSMITTAL
________________________Date Received: _________________
Lisa Shaffer, Chief Administrative Officer Date sent to Council: _________________
______________________________________________________________________________
TO:Salt Lake City Council DATE:
Dan Dugan, Chair
FROM:Director, Department of Community & Neighborhoods
__________________________
SUBJECT:UTA Westside On-Demand Update
STAFF CONTACT:Julianne Sabula, Transit Program Manager, julianne.sabula@slcgov.com,
801-535-6678
DOCUMENT TYPE:Information Only
RECOMMENDATION:The Administration hopes City Council will use this information to
consider what, if any, changes should be made to this program as its pilot year comes to a close.
BUDGET IMPACT: None
BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION: Salt Lake City, in collaboration with UTA, launched
Westside On-Demand Service in the residential areas of Council Districts 1 and 2 in December
2021. The goal was to provide an additional option within the transit system for people in the
Rose Park, Fairpark, Poplar Grove, and Glendale neighborhoods to get around that is convenient,
affordable, and right-sized for the land uses in the area.
The new service has proven to be extremely popular; by September it had experienced 930%
growth in ride requests, with a 74% increase from July to September alone. On an average
weekday in October, 334 rides were completed, and there are 1,712 active riders using the
service. Notably, 37% of rides start or end at a TRAX or FrontRunner station. In-app feedback
shows riders give the service 4.7 of 5 stars due to quick response times (about ten minutes on
average), driver friendliness, vehicle cleanliness, and overall convenience.
Lisa Shaffer (Dec 12, 2022 14:58 MST)12/12/2022
12/12/2022
During the initial months, we made a number of adjustments to improve the customer
experience, reducing the number of unfulfilled trip requests, reducing wait times, and providing
travel training to individuals needing assistance with using the app, transferring, and other
elements of using the service. The result has been reduced complaints and higher ratings.
Now, however, the success of the program has introduced challenges. Ridership has grown very
rapidly, and adjustments were made to maintain quality of service, but as growth continues we
are beginning to see the level of service degrading. In an effort to evaluate what it would take to
accommodate various growth scenarios while maintaining level of service, the team created
projections in low, medium, and high growth categories, which we reviewed together in October.
By the second week of November, we had reached an average weekday ridership that was at the
high end of what had been projected over the course of 2023.
At this time we are renewing our contract for the 2023 service year using the same level of
funding as 2022, based on the Council-approved funding in the FY2022-2023 budget. At some
point, we can expect to see the growth rate begin to plateau, though it is unclear when that will
happen and at what level of daily ridership. Demand patterns can matter almost as much as level
of demand. For instance, if twenty people request a ride at 8 am from all over the service area, it
will require more vehicles and drivers to respond than if those same 20 requests trickled in
throughout the day or were for trips to and from similar locations. The team is tracking these
patterns and Via, the service provider, has the benefit of data from other cities in which they
operate to inform adjustments to our particular service area.
Staff would welcome Council input on goals, expectations, or related initiatives we should
consider as we look at additional scenarios. Council may need to provide a significant increase in
funding or significant decrease in service expectations to accommodate existing and future
demand. If the trend line begins to level off, it will be easier to predict what that would look like.
Questions to consider, along with detailed information about the On-Demand pilot, are included
in Exhibit 1.
PUBLIC PROCESS: None
EXHIBITS:
1) UTA On-Demand Review SLC Westside October 11, 2022