Weber State students can expect construction cones and detours around campus for the foreseeable future. Students can and should continue to expect changes in the shuttle system and what travel to and from campus will look like in the next several semesters.

For the past year, construction for the new Ogden Express or OGX line has been ever-present on campus, with new bus stops and routes springing up and taking shape since early 2020.

According to the current construction timeline, the OGX should be up and running and ready to transport students from the Dee Events Center to the Browning Center by the start of the fall 2022 semester.

The OGX system is a Bus Rapid Transit system, also known as a BRT, which combines the speed and efficiency of a TRAX system and the capacity of a city bus. This also allows for the new system to be emission free with fully electric buses.

This system will replace the current Wildcat Shuttle system at WSU that currently runs from the Dee Events Center down to the Stewart Library. The new shuttle will pick up at the Dee Events Center, make a stop at student housing on Village Drive and then drop off in front of the Browning Center.

Four buses will run back and forth between the three stations every 10-15 minutes in the spring and fall semesters and every 15–20 minutes in the summer.

As of February 2022, the OGX website updates show the Dee Events Center stop is 75% complete, WSU Village Drive stop is 50% complete and WSU Central campus is about 80% complete.

WSU Central stop, or the Browning Center construction zone, is nearly completed, with just station art and glass to be installed. There will be two stations at the Browning Center, with one at the entrance and the other on the opposite side of the bus circle. Each of the stops on and off campus will feature artwork that highlights the culture and history of Ogden.

The artists who are contributing work include Cole Eisenhour, Chuck Landvatter, Ann Tarantino, Benjamin Zack, Priscilia DeCarvalho, Monika Bravo, Don Rimx, Jhonattan Arango, Alicia N. Hall, Hillary H. Wallace and Erica Lyon.

The intermodal hub that will connect Weber’s campus to all of Ogden is the same as the Dee Event Center hub that will pick up students and transport them to students. Current students familiar with the stop won’t notice much of a change as the hub is just west of the current pickup spot.

The buses will also get Transit Signal Priority to keep them running on time. TSP uses sensors to detect approaching vehicles and manipulates the stoplights according to need. It has capabilities such as extending a green light or shortening a red light.

Perhaps the biggest change with the OGX route is that parking at the Dee Events Center will be free come fall semester.

“We’re highly encouraging students, faculty and staff to park at the Dee Events Center,” James Larson, public relations specialist at UTA, said. “That will help reduce people having a hard time finding parking, it will reduce the cost of parking for the students…we think that will really help reduce the amount of congestion.”

Students, faculty and staff will need to use their UTA EdPass to ride the updated shuttle system. This pass is free and available on the eWeber portal. All students need to do is click on the EdPass link and accept the terms and conditions. From there, they can pick up their pass at the Shepherd Union Information Desk.

This pass can be used any time for the FrontRunner, TRAX train, S-Line Streetcar, bus routes and UTA OnDemand Rideshare. The Transit app provides an up-to-date schedule of all UTA routes.

The current bus route that runs from the FrontRunner station to Weber’s campus, route 603, will continue to run as usual until late 2023, when the OGX route is expected to be completed. At that point, the 603 will be discontinued and replaced by the OGX.

“A lot of these ideas came from Dallas. Dallas is very big on BRT systems, and we went and studied them quite extensively before looking at putting in BRTs in Utah,” Larsen said. “It seems as we talk to cities, it’s the way of the future for transportation.”

Students will have the option to choose between the route that stays on campus and the route that goes off campus into downtown Ogden.

“There’s always construction in the works or going on right now, but we try to do our construction in the summer so we don’t impact students too much,” Chad Downs, project manager for Campus Planning and Construction, said.

While there is still much construction to do throughout Ogden, the on-campus construction should be mostly completed before fall semester begins.