History of Public Transit in Salt Lake City

Salt Lake City has recently been deemed one of the happiest, healthiest, and fittest states in the country. This can be attributed, in part, to the year-round outdoor recreation possibilities, amazing snow and cultural history, as well as the city’s progressive attitude toward social and environmental issues. Salt Lake, and the surrounding Wasatch Front, is also known for an efficient, and expanding, public transportation system. Any city dweller is familiar with the Utah Transit Authority (UTA)-- the organization that operates and governs almost all of the public transit in the region. Our current public transit system was created in 1970, and before then, Salt Lake had a diverse public transportation history, which was certainly less uniform than current-day UTA.
In 1872 Brigham Young, and some of his associates, created the Salt Lake Railroad Company. The publicly held company started off with a capital investment of $180,000 and a mule drawn cart that ran between South Temple and West Temple and some other surrounding streets. Young’s company went uncontested until 1890, when a number of private transit companies entered the scene. The end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth century were prosperous times for public transit in Salt Lake. There were up to 10 independent companies operating transit operations and ridership reached a peak of 38.9 million passengers in 1914. A decline in transit use began at this time and led to company failures, and though use rose during war times, the post WWII era and rise of the automobile significantly effected public transit.
The multiple transit companies of the city’s past enjoyed varying degrees of success. With a less competitive market post-WWII it was easier to consolidate public transit into the uniform UTA and work out many of the kinks associated with non-standardized transit. UTA is working on some ambitious service extensions and continues to carry on Salt Lake City’s tradition of a thriving public transit system.

Sources:
Mass Transit in Salt Lake City: 1872 to 1960

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