Since August, routine transit riders who utilize UTA's Farepay cards have enjoyed a new perk: no-cost trips after reaching daily and weekly maximums.

Priced at the equivalent of one round-trip ticket per day on bus or Trax ($5) or four days of round-trip travel per week ($20), the new fare-capping system replaces one of standard discounts, in which cardholders saved a little money on each trip, whether they took 1 trip or 100. (For premium service, including Frontrunner and Ski Bus, the cap is doubled to $10 daily and $40 weekly.)

"You can tap all day—you’ll never be charged more than $5," said Monica Howe, fares director for the Utah Transit Authority. "Trips are free after you reach that maximum. And then, of course, the more you ride, the more you save."

The new caps are part of a multi-phase effort underway at UTA—the state's largest transit agency—to modernize its fare collections and simplify the process of riding buses and trains. New ticketing kiosks have been installed at Trax stations and new fare-reading scanners are rolling out on buses and transit stops, with additional functionality on both expected in the coming years, as well as updates to the agency's mobile ticketing and route-planning app.

"The biggest goal is simplification and convenience," Howe said. "We really want to make payment of fare easy."

Currently, bus riders can pay directly with cash, by presenting a UTA pass or by purchasing a ticket in advance through the Transit app. But they do not have the option of paying their fare by credit card while boarding the bus. And fares purchased with cash or the app do not trigger the new pricing caps, a perk available only to those who obtain and manage a Farepay card.

While Trax riders can purchase their fare with a credit card—a physical card or contactless digital card on a smartphone—at the ticketing kiosks located at train stations, the experience of navigating the kiosk menus is cumbersome for the uninitiated, and those fares also do not count toward daily and weekly caps.

But Howe said that UTA is working on updates to its software and hardware, which in time will allow riders to purchase and manage a Farepay card at the ticketing kiosks—largely replacing paper tickets and transfer receipts—and, eventually, to simply tap a credit card while boarding and deboarding, with the agency's payment system automatically determining the most appropriate rate to assess and suspending payments after fare caps are met.

"This is a multiple-year project that we are hoping to conclude by 2026," Howe said.

Howe said the switch to a fare-capping system is not expected to negatively impact the revenue that UTA collects from riders. Farepay cardholders are swapping one discount for another, she said, while the broader simplification of fare collection is expected to boost overall ridership. That dynamic is supported by UTA data, which showed the number of Utahns utilizing transit surged during Free Fare February promotions in 2022 and 2023, which saw the temporary suspension of fares, systemwide.

"More people taking advantage of [transit] also equates to more revenue," Howe said. "We do not anticipate a big loss at the end of the day."

She also said that UTA is planning a series of public outreach and education efforts to familiarize the public with ongoing shifts to fare payment.

"This is a big change," Howe said. "We are here to support the public in that change."