LTK Engineering Services has started work for the Utah Transit Authority on its wide-ranging visioning study to improve the FrontRunner commuter rail service. Supported by Fehr & Peers and Jacobs Engineering, LTK will provide UTA with long-range strategic planning, focused on improved service reliability and greater ridership demand.
UTA’s FrontRunner service represents an innovative, cost-effective component of Utah’s rich multimodal transportation network. Spanning 88 miles of service, FrontRunner is centered on Salt Lake City and connects 15 stations between Provo and Ogden with half-hourly peak and hourly off-peak service. FrontRunner’s single-track infrastructure with passing siding locations requires precise operations to maintain high on-time performance. The service’s timing provides customer-friendly “memory” schedules, but makes service modifications and additions more challenging.
LTK will analyze future growth scenarios, including implications for ridership, fleet requirements, capital improvements and operating costs. UTA’s goal for FrontRunner is to reduce travel time and improve reliability as well as increase ridership. LTK will use its TrainOps rail network simulation software to model existing operations, near-term planned operations and long-range options for an improved FrontRunner network.
LTK is an employee-owned engineering firm with more than 370 rail engineering and operations professionals located at more than 20 offices across North America. TrainOps has been used to simulate the operations of more than 50 rail networks throughout the world, including streetcar, light rail, heavy rail, commuter rail, high-speed rail and freight systems.
