Tag Archives: uta

Drive Less, Clear the Air & Win Prizes this July

The 2014 Challenge kicked off at the Downtown Farmers Market on Saturday, June 14.

Are you ready to help clear the air? The 2014 Clear the Air Challenge starts next week on Tuesday, July 1!

The month long Challenge is just that — an excellent way to challenge yourself to “drive down your miles” and reduce your emissions. Choose alternatives to driving alone and track your impact on air quality.

(And keep an eye on the leader board for the Salt Lake City Corporation network, which is SLCgreen’s home team!)

The Basics

The Clear the Air Challenge runs July 1-31, 2014.
Register at www.CleartheAirChallenge.org (registration details below).
Track the trips and miles you save by using alternatives to driving alone:
- Active transportation (walk, bike) — Biking and walking, also known as active transportation, are gaining popularity as healthy, efficient and sustainable means of transportation.
- Public transit — To put it simply, ride UTA!
- Carpool — Carpooling involves more than one person traveling together in a car and can be used for many occasions including commuting to work, attending special events or taking kids to school, practices or recreational activities. This strategy requires some coordination of schedules, but can be easily implemented to achieve significant results.
- Telework — Teleworking is possible from just about anywhere – from home, a telecenter, the local coffee shop or anywhere that has a wireless Internet connection. Teleworking can include conference calling or video conferencing for meetings instead of driving to an off-site location or working from a remote office.
- Skip the trip — The skip the trip strategy is as easy as it sounds. Just plan ahead to avoid unnecessary trips. These can be trips taken for work or for home activities.
- Learn more about these strategies at TravelWise.utah.gov.
Join a network, track your impact and compete for great prizes!

Registration

This year there is a new and greatly improved tracking tool for the Clear the Air Challenge. The new tool will require all users to re-register, but the registration process will only take about 30 seconds and users now have the ability to sign up using their Facebook profile.

During the registration process you will be asked to join a team/network, although it’s not required. If you do not see your team/network listed, please email tracker@ppbh.com with the following information:

Team/network name
Team/network admin name (the person on your team who will have admin rights)
Admin’s email
Team/network address
Team/network description (a little about who your team is- optional)

Prizes

The Challenge has approximately $10,000 in prizes to give out this year to participants. A number of weekly prizes will be randomly given to people who have earned badges. Grand prizes will be given to the winners in various categories, including: most trips saved, most miles saved and overall champion. The Grand Prize for the overall individual champion will be a $1,300 pair of powder skis provided by Ramp Sports.

New technology

Here are some of the features of the new technology implemented this year:

Social media integration: Sign up with your Facebook account and share Clear the Air Challenge posts to your Timeline.
Easier tracking and recording of saved trips:
- Set up favorite trips – Trips you take often can be easily added to your tracker dashboard
- Multiple day trip recording – Forgot to track each time you took the TRAX over the past week? Simply click on each of the days you made the same trip and record them all at once!
Trip Planner: Not sure how you might use alternative transportation to get somewhere rather than your car? Simply enter in your starting and ending locations, and you’ll receive carpool, vanpool, transit, walking and biking options to get to your destination. Use this feature all year round whether you are tracking trips or not!

Salt Lake City’s Council Dist. 4 Reigns Supreme in Hive Pass Contest

Passes Are Another Way SLC Residents Can Help Clear the Air

For nearly two months, Salt Lake City Council members have been battling each other for bragging rights and district pride in a challenge posed by Mayor Ralph Becker in April to see who could put the most new Hive transit passes in the pockets of residents.

Well, the results are in and Councilman Luke Garrott’s Fightin’ Dist. 4 has emerged the victor. As promised, all Dist. 4 residents who purchased Hive Passes will be treated to a Salt Lake Bees game on June 18 (vs. the Memphis Redbirds) at 7:05 p.m. at Smith’s Ballpark.

“While our Dist. 4 residents get the prize, it’s truly the case that anyone who has already purchased a Hive Pass is a winner,” said Mayor Becker. “Not only does the discounted pass get you were you need to go, but using it is one of the best ways anyone can help make a positive impact on our air quality challenges.”

“I’m proud of the Dist. 4 folks who work at both reducing air emissions and recognizing a great transportation deal when they see one,” said Councilman Garrott. “It’s a win for everybody in the Valley as the City supports a pass aimed at enhancing mass transit.”

The new Hive Pass is a pilot program created through a partnership between Salt Lake City and the Utah Transit Authority that is initially only available to Salt Lake City residents. The annual pass is good on all UTA TRAX, Frontrunner, bus and S-line Streetcar services and available for an up-front payment of $350 or for $360 in twelve monthly installments. The pass is good for one-year after its first use.

Dist. 4 Hive Pass purchasers can pick up their tickets (one per pass purchased) at the Salt Lake City Mayor’s Office, Salt Lake City & County Building, 451 S. State Street, outside of Room 306. Tickets will be available weekdays beginning Thursday, June 12 through Tuesday, June 17 from 9 a.m.-7 p.m. On game day, Wednesday, June 18, tickets can be picked up from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. For questions, call 801-535-7704.

For more information on the Hive Pass visit: http://www.ridewithhive.com/.

City Transit Passes on Sale & On the Road

Salt Lake City’s new resident transit pass, the Hive Pass, is currently available at three permanent sales locations as well as a variety of mobile sales opportunities at locations around the city.

As part of an initial pilot program being offered by Salt Lake City and UTA, Hive Passes are only available to residents of Salt Lake City and can be purchased for the deeply discounted rate of $350 for a year (or $360, payable in 12 easy, monthly installments of $30.)

The pass is good on almost all UTA modes including TRAX, buses, Frontrunner and S-Line Streetcar (exceptions are UTA’s special fare services like Paratransit, ski buses and Park City Connect.)

Passes can only be purchased in-person and a few documents are necessary just to establish Salt Lake City residency. Visit Ridewithhive.com for details.

Also, residents who may not be sure if their address is in City limits will find a handy tool on the website to confirm they qualify for the Hive Pass.

Mobile sales events are happening this week at the following locations:

Wednesday, March 19 – Salt Lake City Chapman Library Branch
577 S. 900 West
5:30-8:30 p.m.

Saturday, March 22- Winter Market
Rio Grande Depot
300 S. Rio Grande Street
10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Permanent Sales Locations/Hours:

Salt Lake City & County Building
451 South State Street
Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Public Utilities Office
1530 SW Temple Street
Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Sorenson Unity Center
1383 S 900 West
Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The Future of the Downtown Streetcar

Planning is underway to bring the streetcar back to downtown Salt Lake City, and you can help decide where it should go!

Join Salt Lake City for a public open house at Harmon’s City Creek on March 13th from 5-7 p.m. Take a peek at the map below to view the proposed streetcar routes.

This is a great opportunity to weigh in on the future of the streetcar in SLC. Don’t miss it!

Hive Pass Arrives March 1st

Salt Lake City’s shiny new Hive Pass is landing on Saturday, March 1st!

The pass will be available this Saturday at a special event in the atrium of the downtown Main Library from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

We’d love to see you there!

Starting in March, you will be able to purchase the Hive Pass at three permanent locations, or through a series of mobile events.

City & County Building (451 South State Street) – open Monday-Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Public Utilities (1530 SW Temple Street) – open Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sorenson Unity Center (1383 S 900 West) – open Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Mobile sales locations will include all Salt Lake City public libraries and the downtown Winter Market. These events generally occur during the evening or on weekends. View the full calendar of mobile events.

The Hive Pass is an annual UTA pass exclusively for Salt Lake City residents good on regular bus service, TRAX, FrontRunner and the Sugar House S-Line Streetcar. The pass costs $360 a year, and can be paid in monthly installments of just $30!

Proof of residency is required to obtain your pass, and it is important to carefully review the items you will need to bring with you for purchase. Only residents who reside within Salt Lake City boundaries are eligible. Find out if you qualify.

We are very excited to offer this one-of-a-kind pass to our wonderful residents! Visit the new RidewithHive.com for details, and join the conversation with the #RidewithHive hashtag.

Courtesy of RidewithHive on Instagram

Are you ready to Ride with Hive?

The city is buzzing!

The Hive Pass, Salt Lake City’s new annual UTA pass exclusively for city residents, launches on March 1, 2014.

The pilot program is the result of a partnership between Salt Lake City and UTA and will offer city residents an annual transit pass at a deep discount — just $360 a year!

There are two options for pass payment:

$350 full payment to cover the entire year ($10 discount for full payment)
$360 payable in $30 monthly installments

Stay tuned for details on purchasing locations. You can explore frequently asked questions about the Hive Pass at RidewithHive.com.

Be the first to know! If you are super excited to get your hands on this pass (and who isn’t?), sign up to receive email alerts.

Join the conversation — use the #ridewithhive hashtag on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Open Letter from Mayor Becker on Air Quality

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

As you may know, air quality has been a major focus of my work as mayor. My administration has been working on bringing greater attention to the issue and I’ve been advocating for aggressive, meaningful steps to that can be taken by Salt Lake City, state government, industry and individuals to help clean our air.

This is a complex problem and the only way we’re going to solve it is with a comprehensive solution. Let’s come together and fix this problem right away-we can’t wait, the time for talk is over, we need to take action.

Mayor Becker delivers his State of the City address on air quality to a packed house.

During my recent State of the City Address on solving the air quality problem, I proposed key actions that must be taken in order to accomplish this goal.

With clean air as our goal, Salt Lake City has adopted anti-idling ordinances, more than doubled our bike lanes and introduced the City’s first solar farm. For the upcoming year, we are launching the City’s first-ever multiple transit pass and are creating an incentive program to phase out wood burning stoves.

In addition to what Salt Lake City is doing, I’ve also outlined what the state ought to do. Those actions should include:

Allocating More Money for Public Transit
- Increased funding for public transit in Salt Lake City would allow for buses and trains to run more frequently. We must make it more affordable and accessible for individuals to drive less and ride more.
Making Lower Sulfur Gasoline a Requirement
- Tier 3 gasoline has lower levels of sulfur and therefore helps decrease emissions. It is widely available to us but is not required. Mandating that it be required would provide an immediate impact on our air quality.
Requiring Buildings to Use Power Efficiently
- Utah’s energy code standards date back to 2006, lagging far behind many national and international standards. Adopting an updated building code for energy efficiency would help reduce energy use and improve air quality.
Making the True Cost of Driving Transparent at the Pump
- Gas prices have a significant impact on how much people drive their cars. Raising the gas tax would help pay for better roads while also encouraging less driving and improving air quality.
Allowing Utah to set Utah-specific air quality standards
- Setting air quality standards tailored to Utah’s needs is imperative if we are to improve our air quality. Generic national conditions will not work in Utah, and we need to set air quality standards that will work for us.

These are real solutions that will not only produce tangible differences, but produce them quickly. We have received a great response from the community, and are looking to turn that response into results.

If the state is unable to do these things for any reason, I’ve asked that they grant local governments the ability to make these changes because we will get it done at the local level. Enough is enough.

There are 2 things that I would ask of you in order to help improve our air quality.

Lobby your legislators — Ask them to support these measures that I am bringing up and consider the other proposals that will clean up our air.
If they do not support these measures, ask your legislators to grant authority to the local level, so that we can take care of our own problems. We can get this done on the local level if the state can’t or won’t.

I would also implore you to work with your legislators, and not against them. To be effective and to make real change, we need to work together in a respectful and civil manner. While it is important to let your voice be heard, it is equally important to do so in a manner which conveys respect and encourages cooperation.

One of the most memorable moments of my State of the City speech was when a class of 4th graders from Whittier Elementary School took the stage and sang a song they wrote about the inversion and what needs to be done. Our children are, at the end of the day, the most important reason we must strive to clean our air and these kids said it better than anyone could. Watch the video.

There has been enough talk, and it is time for action. A change must be made, and it is up to each and every one of us to make that change.
I hope you will join me in the fight to help improve the air quality of Salt Lake City.

Warm Regards,

Ralph Becker
Mayor
P.S. If you were unable to attend my State of the City address in person, the full text of the speech and some additional information about the issue can be found here.
Also the Salt Lake City Tribune ran a terrific op-ed that discusses the ideas I laid out in my air quality address and if you’re interested, you can read it here.

SmartTrips Rolls into a New Neighborhood

Are you dreaming of warmer days and bluer skies? So are we!

SLCgreen was recently awarded a grant from the Utah Clean Air Partnership (UCAIR) to fund our SmartTrips 2014 neighborhood! Even though it is hazy and cold outside, we’re moving full speed ahead with some exciting plans for 2014.

The newly launched SmartTripsSLC Instagram is making a splashy debut, hosting a series of images from the new neighborhood. Take a peek and see if you can #guesswhere in SLC!

Stay tuned for the neighborhood announcement and a new SmartTrips SLC blog chock full of awesome content.

In the meantime, see if you can guess the new SmartTrips 2014 neighborhood from the images below!

SLC Proposes Discount UTA Pass Program

Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker gathered with community leaders late last week to unveil a new proposed program geared towards clearing the air. The program would offer discounted UTA passes to Salt Lake City residents for just $30 a month — a 63% discount!

We all know that vehicle emissions are a key factor in the poor air quality that plagues our valley during the winter months. The good news is that getting people out of their cars and on to public transportation can go a long way to help reduce emissions and clear the air. This exciting program – the first of its kind in Utah – could make it possible for most city residents to have a UTA pass in their pocket!

Here are the details on the proposed program.

Purpose: Offer an annual transit pass to Salt Lake City residents to incentivize transit use and make riding transit more affordable.

Basic Structure: Salt Lake City residents will be eligible to purchase a one year transit pass for $360. The passes will be available for purchase from Salt Lake City upon providing proof of residency. Residents may pay all at once, or pay in 12 installments of $30 via a monthly bill.

The pass will be issued with the resident’s photo on it, and is non-transferable. There is no limit per household. The pass will be good on local and express bus, TRAX, and FrontRunner. Ski bus, Park City Connect and paratransit services will be excluded from the pass.

The program is a unique partnership between UTA and Salt Lake City. While modeled after other bulk pass programs offered by UTA for employees of eligible organizations, it’s the first pass of its kind to be designed for residents.

Benefits: In just 12 local trips per month (6 round-trips), residents who opt in to the pass will have broken even on their investment. Having a ‘pass in pocket’, residents are more likely to use transit.

Timeframe: The program will launch in early 2014. This pass is being implemented as a one-year pilot program. If successful, UTA and SLC may choose to continue the program. The program will be refined as needed and made available to other communities.

Basis: UTA completed a random sample telephone survey to assess interest in purchasing this pass. Based on results of the survey, up to 6,000 passes could be sold.

Media Coverage:

Next Steps: To make this program a reality, work to be completed over the next few months includes:

Funding allocated from Salt Lake City Council (Pending decision)
Set join goals between UTA/SLC to define goals and positive outcomes
Set up administrative systems
Determine tracking mechanisms
Marketing and public information
Materials preparation (passes, etc..)
Back-office functions for both UTA and SLC accounting procedures

Fairpark Takes a Promenade

This is a guest blog written by Sara Rose Tannenbaum of Salt Lake City’s SmartTrips Program.

On Saturday September 21^st, over 40 neighbors gathered on the corner of 300 North and 900 West. While adults mingled under the shade of the giant Coca-Cola billboard, kids chased chickens and discovered eggs in the maze of sunflowers.

The reason for their gathering was the Fairpark Promenade, a collaborative “Community Walk around the Block” hosted by the Fairpark Community Council, the Urban Growth Garden and SmartTrips Fairpark.

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