A center is a walkable, mixed-use location that provides a variety of amenities and services. Centers are located to benefit from a nexus of regionally significant transportation corridors – high capacity transit and major roadways.  Centers draw people from surrounding neighborhoods and serve as lively, central locations for people to gather while also highlighting the uniqueness of an area. Centers are a focal point of the Wasatch Choice Vision.

Congestion Pricing refers to variable road tolls (higher prices under congested conditions and lower or no prices at less congested times and locations) intended to reduce peak-period traffic volumes to optimal levels. With Congestion Pricing, tolls can vary based on a fixed schedule, or they can be dynamic, meaning that rates change depending on the level of congestion that exists at a particular time. It can be implemented when road tolls are implemented to raise revenue, or on existing roadways as a demand management strategy to avoid the need to add capacity.

The concept of “local street design modifications” is to match the design and function of a roadway to its surrounding context (and vice versa) in order to maximize shared objectives. Context is important even while continuing to balance the regional mobility role of a road. As an example, a road should look, feel and operate differently in a downtown area compared to an industrial area. The downtown should have slower speeds and wider sidewalks while the industrial road should have smoother turning radii and wider roads. By having these two roadways match their respective contexts, it makes both the downtown and the industrial area work better for the economy and improves safety.

Managed lanes are operational strategies that optimize the person moving capacity of existing transportation facilities. “Managed lanes” refers to a broad variety of strategies such as coordinated ramp signaling, lane use management, and variable message signing. For example,  in order to optimize the overall travel time on the freeway, users may spend more time waiting to enter the freeway and speeds may be adjusted downward.

Connectivity can be defined as multiple routes and connections serving the same origins and destinations. Connectivity has long been known as providing multiple benefits.

A road usage charge is a usage-based fee based on a certain rate per mile traveled, which would replace or supplement taxes imposed on the amount of fuel consumed. The Utah State Legislature has passed legislation requiring UDOT to enroll all vehicles registered in the state in the road usage charge program by 2031.

Parking demands are in a state of significant flux. They are affected by a variety of historically unusual external forces such as telecommuting, the growth of transportation network companies (TNCs) like Uber and Lyft, and the spread of first-/last-mile solutions including micro-mobility. All communities that have parking regulations that don’t address these considerations should update their standards.

Parking regulations can be modernized as well to achieve community benefits like freeing up additional land for development or open space.  This in turn would improve destination accessibility; increase the propensity to take transit, walk, and bike; and improve the fiscal health of a community.

Investing in a zero-fare transit system has been shown to be one of the fastest ways to increase sustained ridership for a lower cost than any other investment. In the Wasatch Front Region, zero-fare transit has been the focus of recent conversations, as well as at the state level.

The Utah Transit Authority (UTA) is the primary public transportation provider within the Region, responsible for providing fixed-route bus, light rail, commuter rail, paratransit, on-demand, and vanpool service. UTA currently offers zero-fare service within the downtown Salt Lake City area and on some specific services like the Utah Valley Express (UVX) and the Ogden Express (OGX) routes. Following the positive reception of the Fare Free February pilot, in which fares on UTA service were suspended for the month of February 2022, there has been increasing interest in evaluating the potential impacts associated with various levels of zero-fare transit service for the Region.