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TO: |
Transit Commission |
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THROUGH: |
Jay Fox, Executive Director |
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FROM: |
Viola Miller, Chief Financial Officer |
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PRESENTER(S): |
Brian Reeves, Associate Chief Financial Officer |
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TITLE:
title
Fare Agreement: Temple Open House Celebration Ticket as Fare (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)
end
AGENDA ITEM TYPE:
Service or Fare Agreement
RECOMMENDATION:
Approve and authorize the Executive Director to execute a Special Events Agreement with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for the Temple Celebration.
BACKGROUND:
The Utah Public Transit District Act section 17B-2-811.1(7) outlines the Executive Director's duty to present proposed fare contracts to the Transit Commission. As directed in statute, staff will provide information about the benefits and impacts of reduced-fare, ticket-as-fare, and other fare event contracts. These contracts are subject to approval by the Transit Commission.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (“the Church”) and UTA have been longstanding partners in providing transit access for the Church employees, missionaries, and others to its events. In 2027, the Church will host a Temple Celebration at Temple Square for the Salt Lake Temple following its renovation. The celebration is expected to begin in March 2027 and conclude in September 2027, with more than five million visitors anticipated during the six-month event.
While attendance at the Temple Celebration is open to the public, the Church anticipates significant increases in visitor activity within downtown Salt Lake City and surrounding areas. Given the scale of the event, the Church has approached UTA regarding opportunities to encourage transit use and help manage transportation demand, reduce roadway congestion, and improve visitor access to Temple Square and other downtown destinations.
UTA and the Church have collaborated previously on transportation initiatives and special events that support regional mobility goals while providing convenient travel options for visitors and residents.
DISCUSSION:
UTA staff have worked with representatives of the Church to develop a transit partnership designed to promote the use of public transportation during the 2027 Temple Celebration. Under the proposed Special Events Agreement, the Church will subsidize transit fare for visitors attending ticketed events associated with the Temple Celebration. The partnership is intended to encourage visitors to utilize transit rather than personal vehicles, helping to reduce traffic congestion, parking demand, and environmental impacts associated with a large-scale event.
The Temple Celebration presents a unique opportunity to showcase UTA's multimodal transit network to millions of visitors from across the world. Temple Square is directly served by TRAX light rail and is accessible through FrontRunner, local bus service, and other transit connections, making public transportation a practical and efficient travel option for event attendees.
In addition to supporting mobility goals, the partnership is expected to generate additional ridership and fare revenue for UTA allowing both organizations to collaborate on delivering a seamless transportation experience for visitors throughout the duration of the Temple Celebration.
All ticketed events hosted by the Church during the Celebration will require a ticket for entry, and no admission without a ticket will be allowed. Each ticket will contain a unique identifier that enables the Church to determine the number of unique attendees, including instances where an individual attends multiple ticketed events on the same day. The Church will provide UTA the number of unique attendees whose tickets were scanned. UTA will apply a transit utilization rate of 8.3% to the number of unique attendees, then adding volunteer usage, to calculate Special Event Ridership for ticketed events. UTA will then calculate the total monthly based on a fare rate of $3.75 per rider per day.
CONTRACT SUMMARY:
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Contractor Name |
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints |
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Contract Number |
26-F28536 |
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Contract Start/End Dates |
March 1, 2027 - September 30, 2027 |
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Total Contract Value |
Estimated to be $1.2M in revenue, depending on event attendance |
ALTERNATIVES
Do not approve the agreement and require event attendees to purchase their tickets.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Estimated to be $1.2M in revenue, depending on event attendance.
ATTACHMENTS:
• Fare Agreement: Temple Open House Celebration Ticket as Fare (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)