Utah Transit Authority Moves the New Transit Ambassador Program into 2025.

In 2024, the Utah Transit Authority joined other national transportation agencies by piloting the TRAX Ambassador program. This small yet mighty team of 14, consists of 10 frontline staff, 2 supervisors, a community engagement specialist and manager. They are one of many community-focused programs operated under the UTA Community Engagement Department, including Travel Training.

The TRAX Ambassadors cover a section of the busy downtown area, Light Rail TRAX system. You can see them during the morning and evening commute from Monday to Friday on the BLUE Line train and platforms. They offer a welcoming and supportive presence engaging with riders by sharing wayfinding information, connecting them to community resource information or simply adding a friendly face to the commute.

Team members come with lived experiences working with the unhoused population, people with disabilities, English second language speakers but also received training with trauma informed de-escalation, boundaries, CPR/First aid, suicide prevention, internal and community resources to name a few.  

To date, Ambassadors have had over 32,000 interactions that are more than a greeting, over 400 service concerns submitted to UTA that include graffiti, clean-up requests, train door, platform and ticket vending machine issues. Within less than a year of the pilot program, the UTA board approved for the program to continue permanently in 2025. We are excited to move forward and continue to work with community members, UTA stakeholders and operations to grow the program and support the diverse ridership that UTA serves.