Trip Planner Help

General Tips

The trip planner map data was recently updated. However, there still may be addresses it cannot find. In such a case, please try again and enter another address (street) that has existed for more than a few years. You can also try planning your trip from a park-and-ride lot or other nearby business by using the search by category tool.

Starting and Destination Locations

You can enter a starting/destination location by using an address, intersection or landmark. You can also select a previously used location from the Address History drop-down list.

Address History:

Previously used locations are stored for fast and easy access later. To use a previously used location, simply select a location from the drop-down list.

Address:
When entering a street address use the standard US Postal Service abbreviations (e.g. N, W, ST, BLVD, DR, RD). If you are having trouble, make sure you are including the direction along with the street name (e.g. 50 S Main St, not just 50 Main St).

Address Examples:
2187 W Alexander Ct
301 W South Temple 776 N Terminal Dr

Intersection:
For best results when entering an intersection separate the streets with the word "AT" or "AND" or the "@" symbol.

Intersection Examples:
300 W AT S Temple
Main St @ 400 S
2100 S AND 700 E

Landmark:
Enter a common landmark (see examples below).  Not every landmark has been entered into the database. However, it is being updated on a regular basis.

Landmark Examples:
Delta Center
Airport
Salt Palace
Temple Square

If the UTA Trip Planner system finds more than one location in its database that matches your request, the system displays a list of choices to select.  If you cannot determine which to choose, you should try a nearby intersection rather than an exact address.  Try another intersection such as a known transit stop intersection or use a nearby landmark.

Category:

You may also search a specific category to find your starting location. Select a category from the drop-down list. Click the "Submit and View Category Items" button. This will display a list of all available locations for the category you selected. Select a location from the list. For example, if you select "Malls" from the Category drop-down list and then click on the "Submit and View Category Items" button, you will see a listing of all malls within the UTA Trip Planner area. Not every landmark has been entered into the database. However, it is being updated on a regular basis.

Set your time

Select whether you want to plan your trip based upon a departure time (i.e. I'm leaving my starting point at…) or arrival time (i.e. I must arrive at my destination by…) by clicking the appropriate radio button.

Select your ideal trip departure/arrival time by selecting the hour, minute and AM/PM from the drop-down boxes. You can only select times on the hour and every 15 minutes.

Set your day

Select the day you want to travel from the drop-down list or popup calendar (click on the calendar icon). The UTA Trip Planner system only allows a trip to be planned approximately 30 days in advance.

Making changes to your trip

To make a change to a trip simply click on the appropriate step (tab) and make the necessary change. Then click the continue button to save the change and continue. You must use the Submit/Next buttons for your changes to be saved.

Itineraries

The UTA Trip Planner examines all transit stops within 1/4 mile of your starting and destination locations.  If there is no transit stop within this distance, no valid itineraries will be planned. If this happens, please select another location to begin and/or end your trip, such as a Landmark, Category or another Address.  Itineraries are sorted by the shortest travel time. This includes the time from when you first board a UTA bus or TRAX vehicle to when you last depart.  An approximate walking time is added to this value and the trips are then sorted with the shortest time at the top. Walking distance is calculated using the average speed for adults as determined by the US Department of Transportation.  The approximate walking distance is displayed for your reference.

For long trips that are over 3 hours or take more than 3 transfers you will need to break the trip into smaller trips. For example, if you need to get from Brigham City to Orem, you will need to plan this as two separate trips. First trip would be from Brigham City to Salt Lake City and then the second trip would be from Salt Lake City to Orem.

Screen Reader Accessibility

The UTA Trip Planner has been designed with accessible features. Some of these features are best accessed while browsing the site with screen reading software such as Window Eyes or JAWS. Constant improvements are being made to make the UTA website accessible to as many people as possible.

There are some things you should know when using the Trip Planner with JAWS. Except in Forms mode, the backspace key will take you to the last visited page just like the back button in the browser. On the Trip Planner results page, you can get a quick review of the itineraries returned by going to each trip using the ALT + Number of Itinerary (for example Alt + 1) and pressing enter. Then let JAWS read the first few lines of the trip to get the number of transfers, total travel time and walking distance.

The UTA Trip Planner uses Access Keys and Labels to help navigate the form pages. Here is a list of the pages and corresponding Access Keys. Note: Access Keys can be used by pressing the appropriate letter while holding down the "alt" key. The Tab key can also be used to move between form elements. Many programs like JAWS will automatically activate a form element such as a submit button when you press the appropriate access keys. However, hyperlinks are not activated the same. When using the access keys to navigate to a hyperlink, it is usually necessary to press enter after you press the access keys.

On Step 1 - Starting Address page:
Alt + S = Starting Location.
Alt + G = Submit form to plan trip.
Alt + H = Select from history.

On Step 2 - Destination Address page:
Alt + D = Destination Location.
Alt + G = Submit form to plan trip.
Alt + H = Select from history.

On the Found Multiple page, if displayed:
Alt + S = Select from multiple starting addresses or landmarks found.
Alt + D = Select from multiple destination addresses or landmarks found.
Alt + G = Submit form to continue planning trip.

On Step 3 - Date and Time page:
Alt + L = Plan trip to leave at the specified time.
Alt + A = Plan trip to arrive at the specified time.
Alt + H = Set hour for planned trip time.
Alt + M = Set minutes for planned trip time.
Alt + P = Set AM or PM for planned trip time.
Alt + C = Calendar.

On Step 4 - Results page:
Alt + 1 = First Result.
Alt + 2 = Second Result.
Alt + 3 = Third Result.
Alt + 4 = Fourth Result.
Alt + 5 = Fifth Result.
Alt + O = Start over.
Alt + R = Refine search.
Alt + E = Email Trip Itinerary link.
Alt + P = Printer Friendly page.