A Bit of Complaining

First Complaint: The UTA (Utah Transit Authority) only sells monthly bus/TRAX passes by the actual calendar month. It's good from January 1st to January 31st. What about those people only visiting for a week, or those who arrive half way into the month? Or me, who needs it to start on the 28th and last until January 28th? Do I just suck it up and pay the $4.50 Rail Roundtrip fare? It's a system that instead of encouraging visitors and residents alike to use public transportation, makes it a costly hassle to figure out the ticketing. There's no weekly pass, or a monthly pass good for 30 days from purchase. You can't even buy the monthly pass at a TRAX station; it has to be purchased at grocery stores throughout the valley (bonus points, though, for being able to purchase it online and have it mailed to your house).

Second Complaint: major sidewalks are not shoveled. Snow from streets that have been plowed away get piled up on the sidewalks, making them practically impassable. The bus stops have no standing area, and to even get on the bus you'd have to step in a big pile of snow. This might not be the case for all major sidewalks here, but since I am not well-travelled on all the sidewalks in Salt Lake you'll just have to take my word for it. This certainly makes it harder for those who chose to ride the bus and utilize the public transortation in their city; it's as if their seen as not as important as those who ride cars.

In case you couldn't tell, public transportation is something I'm slightly passionate about, a by-produdct of living in a place that relies so heavily on it. I just get frustrated by the way public transportation is here. I realize it's not New York and there's not quite the same need for it here. A friend once told me that to really enjoy New York, you have to stop looking for Salt Lake/Utah in the city; the opposite can also be true. Once I stop looking for New York in Salt Lake, I can fully enjoy this other City.