UTA announces free fare days this Thursday and Friday

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Transit Authority will be holding Free Fare for Clean Air days on Thursday and Friday.

This means that on those two days, all UTA bus and rail services, including bus, FrontRunner, TRAX, the S-Line streetcar, paratransit, the Park City-SLC Connect and UTA On Demand will be free of charge.

In addition, GREENBike, will offer a promo code for a free 24 hours during the free fare days. The promo code is 8121 and can be entered at any GREENBike station.

“The free fare days we’ve had during this program have been very successful,” UTA Board of Trustees Chair Carlton Christensen said. “We look forward to building on this success, further increasing awareness among the public about how they can help improve our air quality by riding public transit.”

The free fare days are made in partnership with the Utah Legislature, the Utah Department of Environmental Quality, Utah Clean Air Partners and the Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah.

According to a release from UTA, “The first Free Fair for Clean Air days were held August 12-13, 2021 and resulted in a 5% increase in bus ridership and a 12% increase in FrontRunner ridership. New riders accounted for over 19% of trips taken, and 70% of survey respondents said they did not use a vehicle to reach transit. The next free fare days were held December 21-22, 2021.”

Funding for Free Fare days was made possible by HB 353, sponsored by Rep. Joel Briscoe in the 2019 legislative session.

“Summertime ozone pollution is not something we can see like our winter inversions, but over the past few years some of our worst air quality days have been in the summer months,” DEQ Executive Director Kim Shelley said. “Vehicles are the largest contributor to Utah’s air quality challenges along the Wasatch Front. We’ve seen that when we remove barriers to using public transit, people will make the choice that reduces pollution and improves quality of life all around.”

Plan your trip by downloading the Transit app, available in the App Store or Google Play. You can also visit www.rideuta.com to view schedules and maps or plan a trip with Google Transit.

“The Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah is excited to continue partnering with the Free Fare for Clean Air days,” said Lexi Tuddenham, executive director of HEAL Utah. “This program has helped gather crucial data that our state policymakers can use to create comprehensive policy solutions for mitigating air pollution and promoting smart growth in the Wasatch Front.”