IN THE FEBRUARY ISSUE

Local Officials Unite to Celebrate Free Fare February Map of the Month: 2023 RTP Preferred Scenario Map Government Affairs Update  Invested in our Region: SLCo Regional Economic Development Administration Spotlight

From Our Partners: Missing Middle in Housing #ICYMI: WFRC on Social Media On the Horizon: Upcoming Events WFRC in the News WFRC in the Community

Local Officials Unite to Celebrate Free Fare February

On Tuesday, February 8, mayors and county council members from across the region boarded UTA vehicles from all corners to gather to promote Free Fare February and celebrate the 20th anniversary of the start of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City. They came by TRAX, FrontRunner, and local bus to Salt Lake Central Station to raise awareness about this first of its kind month-long period of free fares and encourage everyone to make an extra effort to use transit during the month. UTA streamed the event live, of which a recording is available to view here.  February has historically experienced some of the worst air quality days along the Wasatch Front. WFRC is able to support Free Fare February through its Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Program (CMAQ), to help cover some of the absence of fare revenue.  Numerous local government agencies and private businesses have come together to support Free Fare February on UTA. Fares are free on all UTA bus and rail services, including Ski Bus, paratransit, the Park City-Salt Lake City Connect, and UTA On Demand.  Since the first day of February when fare collection was temporarily suspended, UTA has recorded notable ridership increases systemwide. Average weekday ridership for the first two weeks of February is up 20%. FrontRunner is seeing the largest increase with weekday ridership rising 33% while Saturday boardings are up 163%. Ridership data on all modes of UTA transportation can be viewed here.  For more information visit www.rideuta.com/freefare. The effort to bring local officials together by public transportation was an idea first raised at WFRC’s January Council meeting.

2023 RTP Preferred Scenario Map (Winter 2022 Draft of the 2023-50 RTP)

Every four years, WFRC adopts an updated Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) - the long-range plan for roadway, transit, and active transportation projects over the next 20-30 years. This critical work is done in close collaboration with our transportation agency and local government partners. This map shows the 2023-2050 RTP “preferred scenario” - a comprehensive draft of transportation projects to be included in the next RTP. This preferred scenario reflects consideration of more than 600 comments received from our workshops this past fall with all communities in our region, an interactive public comment map, resource agencies, community organizations, and other stakeholder discussions. In the next few months, WFRC will lead the effort to prioritize and phase projects in the preferred scenario according to each project’s regional performance and the timing of anticipated funding – culminating in an outreach campaign this fall to gather final feedback for the 2023 RTP project list. If you’re curious what changed between the 2019 and the draft 2023 plans, click the “View Changes from 2019 RTP” link. It will take you to an interactive map that compares the two plans. We appreciate your continued feedback and support in refining this list of projects.

View this Month's Map

The Salt Lake County Regional Economic Development Administration is one of the recipients of a WFRC Wasatch Front Economic Development District EDA CARES Grant. The $50,000 grant helped augment the Salt Lake County Small Business Impact Grant and the Economic Inclusion Community Assistance Program (EICAP) aimed at sustaining businesses that were adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.   Salt Lake County partnered with various organizations like the Suazo Business Center, local chambers of commerce, Westminster College, and the Salt Lake Community College to provide small business assistance from entrepreneurship training and incorporation to finance and marketing support. Because of the grant, Salt Lake County was able to offer the partner organization fees to teach these classes and provide assistance free of charge to the participants.   As of Feb. 10, 2022, EICP has benefited 684 businesses, of which:

Additionally, 20 small businesses participated in the bookkeeping program with Westminster College, which has thus far had a 100% client satisfaction rate on post-engagement evaluation. Finally, the Salt Lake Community College’s Everyday Entrepreneur program attracted a diverse audience of 14 Congolese and Nigerian refugees who received the assistance needed to launch a business. The Wasatch Front Economic Development District is proud to have helped facilitate EDA CARES funding to support organizations like Salt Lake County to help our neighbors start and grow successful small businesses. If you would like to learn more about the Salt Lake County Regional Economic Development Administration, please contact Brooke Shankland, Economic Development Manager at [email protected], or call at (385) 468-4868.

We’re nearing the end of the 2022 General Legislative Session, with just over one week left to go! Find a few highlights of the session below, but keep an eye out for our 2022 General Legislative Session Summary shortly after the session wraps to hear how everything shakes out. Appropriations We have shared and continue to share WFRC’s funding priorities that WFRC and its partners are supporting on capitol hill. As a reminder, the following 6 priorities (in no particular order of importance), are under consideration by the legislature for funding.  $232 million to replace previously authorized FrontRunner bonds (This WFRC priority was funded in the base budget and will now allow the Transit Transportation Investment Fund to be freed up – rather than being obligated to debt service – for other transit projects throughout the state.)  $46 million for regionally important active transportation projects (join hundreds of our public, private and community partners, and sign onto our joint active transportation investment letter HERE) Funding to advance roadway projects as prioritized in Utah’s Unified Transportation Plan. Funding for additional transit investments, including at the Point of the Mountain $1.65 million ongoing funding for technical planning assistance  $1 million one-time to fund a statewide conversation on growth With last week's released revenue estimates, and with positive discussions on capitol hill, we are hopeful in anticipating that the legislature will again make significant investment in multi-modal transportation infrastructure. To ensure that legislators not only consider, but understand the importance of these priorities, WFRC staff and leadership have been active on the hill in sharing information about these important investments.  Legislation You Should Know About SB 140 Housing and Transit Reinvestment Zones (HTRZ) by Senator Wayne Harper would authorize a limited number of additional HTRZs around light-rail transit and bus rapid transit (BRT) stations, in addition to FrontRunner stations as is now allowed. You can find WFRC’s summary of SB140 HERE.  HB 322, Public Transit Capital Development Modifications by Representative Kay Christofferson would require the UDOT to play a greater role in coordinating with UTA in delivering capital development projects for which the state has provided financial investment, specifically FrontRunner doubletracking and Point of the Mountain transit. HB462, Utah Housing Affordability Amendments (formerly known as SB34+) by Representative Steve Waldrip would make changes to moderate income housing plan requirements for cities, as established in SB34 from 2019. The intent of the bill is to ensure the tool is both useful and effective for local and state leaders in planning for moderate income housing in our local communities.  Station Area Plans (to be numbered) by Representative Steve Waldrip would allow cities, with the support of MPOs and UTA, to create plans around their transit station areas and would allow cities to determine how to meet shared objectives, but would not direct the specific approach or zoning. As a reminder, you can stay up to speed on the legislation that has either a direct or indirect impact to the work of WFRC and its partners with our WFRC 2022 Bill Tracker which is updated regularly and shares a brief summary, bill information, and WFRC position. Additionally, you can find the bill trackers for our partners at the League of Cities and Towns HERE, and the Utah Association of Counties HERE.  Federal Update This month, WFRC leadership met with all of Utah’s congressional delegation members to discuss the opportunities in the federal infrastructure law, including discretionary grant programs for which Utah can compete for funds. Additionally, the group was able to share with our Congressmen and Senators the importance of passing a federal FY22 budget, and the negative impact continuing budget resolutions have on the implementation of the federal infrastructure bill. While in Washington, WFRC leadership also attended the National Association of Regional Councils (NARC) Conference of Regions. At the conference, the group heard from various industry experts about implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), and were able to share about the work WFRC is doing with our NARC partners across the country to analyze the IIJA, and provide recommendations to the U.S. Department of Transportation about implementation of the bill. As we continue to receive additional information on funding information, and discretionary grant program funding opportunities, we will keep you informed. Here is WFRC’s summary of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

WFRC is grateful for the thousands of partners and members of the public who follow and engage with us online. Please continue to help us spread the word about our good work. View, like, and share these posts on Facebook and Twitter.

“Middle housing” is a neighborhood-centric strategy focused on diverse housing options, such as duplexes, fourplexes, cottage courts, and multiplexes. The strategy provides solutions along a spectrum of affordability to address the mismatch between the available U.S. housing stock and shifting demographics combined with the growing demand for walkability. Recently, our partners in Planning and Development at Salt Lake County launched a new website featuring an interactive map analyzing housing opportunities by category and jurisdiction. Videos are also posted on the site from the Oct. 7, 2021 Regional Solutions event focusing on Missing Middle Housing, featuring author and expert Daniel Parolek.

Missing Middle Housing in Salt Lake County

Move Utah Summit, Wednesday, March 16 - Thursday, March 17 Each year, hundreds of subject-matter experts, including planners, engineers, and community leaders from across the state come together to discuss best practices for improving decision-making related to health, transportation and land use. Attend this year's event to hear WFRC Transportation Planner Nikki Navio participate in a panel discussion at the Summit titled “Keeping it Real: Advancing Equity in Active Transportation." For more info, and to register, click here. Golden Spoke Ride Saturday, May 14 Mark your calendars! The Golden Spoke Ride is set to make a big return in 2022. Keep an eye out for additional detail on the Golden Spoke’s webpage, here.

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WFRC Deputy Director Ted Knowlton was recently interviewed by Deseret News about how the pandemic and remote work have impacted traffic and trip distances in our region.  “One thing we’ve seen as a general matter is that with auto trips, on average, the distances have fallen. So people are accomplishing their wants and needs closer to home. They’re localizing their activities. That could mean that people are staying home during the day to telework and then running their other errands on the local streets. Whereas they might have been doing that activity in the major employment centers before.”

In early February, staff from WFRC devoted their lunch break to serve those in need by volunteering at the Utah Food Bank. Founded in 1904, last year the Utah Food Bank distributed 70.2 million pounds of food, the equivalent of 58.5 million meals, to people facing hunger across the state. WFRC staff were proud to help prepare a small fraction of those meals by measuring and packaging macaroni and cheese meals for families in need. It was a delicious opportunity to give back!

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