TRANSPORTATION
UTAH’S STRATEGIC LOCATION, offers significant transportation advantages
for the state’s companies and residents. Utah is an excellent base for major regional air, ground and rail distribution, as its primary population centers are essentially equidistant from all major western U.S. markets. Salt Lake City is a full-service customs port city, and there are additional highway ports of entry throughout Utah. The primary components in Utah’s superb transportation system include: an efficient international airport; an excellent highway system built around major east-west (I-80) and north-south (I-15) interstate highways that intersect in the middle of the state’s leading population center; two major railroads; and steadily expanding light rail and commuter rail systems. Over the past several years, the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) improved and expanded the I-15 corridor in Salt Lake County, and is addressing key areas of Utah County and Davis County in order to facilitate improved traffic flow in the most heavily trafficked areas. AIR
Utah’s moniker, “The Crossroads of the West,” is an apt description. The Salt Lake International Airport (SLC), situated approximately five miles northwest of downtown Salt Lake City, is located within a 2.5-hour flight of half the population in the U.S. Since 1927, when Charles Lindbergh first piloted his plane to what was then known as Woodward Field, SLC has developed into the 25th-busiest in the U.S., and 50th-busiest in the world, serving approximately 21.5 million passengers in 2006. SLC offers non-stop flights to more than 100 cities, included the top 50 Salt Lake destinations, and has more than 800 scheduled flights daily, with more than 73,000 available airplane seats. SLC’s innovative language translation service, Language Line, provides real-time translation of 250 languages throughUTA’S FRONTRUNNER COMMUTER RAIL
2.5 HIGHLIGHTS
One-half of the U.S. population is located within a 2.5-hour flight of Salt Lake City Salt Lake City International (SLC) Airport served 21.5 million passengers in 2006, making it the nation’s 25th busiest airport in the U.S. and the world’s 50th busiest. SLC International ranked first among U.S. airports in on-time departures and second for on-time arrivals performance in 2005, according to Bureau of Transportation Statistics. 2,300-plus registered carriers provide intrastate and interstate motor freight services. The Utah Transit Authority (UTA) was awarded “2002 Transit System of the Year” by the American Public Transit Association. More than four million riders were transported on Utah’s light-rail system, TRAX, during the two weeks of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. In October 2006, TRAX passed the 50-million-rider mark.
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UTAH FACTS 2008
