FrontRunner Experience

I had a meeting in downtown SLC today so I decided to give the FrontRunner a whirl. I wanted to see how the system works and gage the time and money advantages over driving the car.

I started from home at 7:05am. Rather than "Park-n-Ride" I thought I would walk instead. The FrontRunner Hub is only 5 blocks form my home.



The walk through the neighborhood was gingerly. The streets are pretty empty this time in the morning.






Here is a photo of The Junction from 23rd and Adams. My entire walk to the Hub was along 23rd St. Construction is still bustling with more retail and residential in the works.





The hub is at 23rd and Wall Ave. This is a photo of that intersection.








The ticket kiosk next to the loading pad.









The loading pad.

The Salt Lake Hub.





So the trip to my destination via foot, FrontRunner, and Trax took me 1 Hour and 45 minutes. A little longer than I was hoping. I could have shaved about 15 minutes off that time if I had driven to the Ogden hub from my house instead of walking there. The ticket for FrontRunner cost me $11 round trip. Trax in Downtown SLC is free. The trains are all timed very close to one another so there wasn't much waiting. Lets chart this and compare it to my normal vehicle trip and see if it was worth it.


Train
Time 1:45
Gas Cost or Fare $11
Wear and Tear $0
Parking $0
TOTAL $11

Car
Time :45
Gas Cost or Fare $25.20
Wear and Tear $20
Parking $5
TOTAL $50.20

I estimated that wear and tear on a vehicle was about $.20 per mile. My car gets 15 miles per gallon (yes, its an SUV) and gas is about $4.20 right now. Parking is also going to cost in SLC. There is no escaping it. Given this scenario, I estimate I saved about $40 for my hour of inconvenience. The time would have been more productive had I brought a laptop. The train does have WiFi so the time could potentially be highly productive. In all, I would recommend FrontRunner's use. I certainly will be using it again.