(KCPW News) At an August 27 meeting of the UTA Board of Trustees, petition organizer Alex Cragun challenged board members to take a “seven-day challenge,” in which they would rely on public transit as their primary mode of transportation.
Almost two weeks later, three board membersâRep. Greg Hughes, Necia Christensen, and Keith Bartholomewâ have completed the seven-day UTA challenge. But Cragun, who’s hoping to convince UTA to extend its hours of service, says having only three of fifteen board members participate so far isn’t good enough.
“I’ve got to say, I’m pretty disappointed in them,” Cragun says. “You would think that people so interested and invested like the board of trustees for Utah’s public transportation system would be interested in using their own system, but apparently not.”
Cragun himself has relied on public transitâalong with walking and bikingâfor about two years. Being such an avid user of UTA has motivated his interest in improving service.
“It kind of became a passion for me because it matters to me,” he says. “I can’t tell you how many times where I’ve, like, missed the last bus and had to walk the hour-and-a-half it is to my house from Murray Central.”
Cragun has gotten the chance to thank Bartholomew and Christensen personally, and is hoping to hear from Hughes soon.
On his Facebook page, Hughes has chronicled his experience. Among his observations was the mile-long walk from Murray Central Station to his dentist appointment. Cragun says Christensen had to borrow a friend’s truck to visit a Home Depot.
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