By car
When navigating the city, it is important to have a knowledge of the unique and simple grid system that the city is based on. See the description under Understand.
The city is very car-friendly due to wide, straight roads and the fact that they're laid out in a simple grid orientation. Although the streets become much more irregular in the suburbs, the grid system maintains itself pretty well within the boundaries of the city although the east bench makes straight grid-oriented roads impossible, evidenced by the northwest-to-southeast orientation of Foothill Boulevard. Although the grid becomes more irregular the farther away from the city center you move, the numbering system remains consistent, and even named streets have their corresponding "grid number" listed below the name of the road on the street sign. The grid system means that you can easily reach almost every major road from almost every other major road. Car travel is also simplified by the fact that only one major one-way street pair exists in the city 500 South and 600 South.
Salt Lake City is well-served by freeways, with Interstate 15 running straight north-south through the city, running straight past downtown. I-15 through the city is 10 lanes with 2 High-Occupancy Vehicle lanes more commonly known as "carpool lanes". I-80 briefly merges with I-15 just west of downtown, and continues west past the airport and east past the Sugarhouse neighborhood, passing a major shopping district and running through a major residential area. I-215 runs through the west part of the city, directing traffic into the city from the western neighborhoods and the northern and southern suburbs. It intersects with I-80 just west of the airport. State Route 201 often referred to as "SR 201", the "201 freeway", "21st South Freeway", or just the "201", heads west from I-80's southern merge point along the border with West Valley City, although it mostly serves residents looking to come into or go out of the city. The interchange where the three freeways come together on the border with South Salt Lake is known as the "Spaghetti Bowl".
Although the roads are generally wide and spacious and generously laid out in a grid pattern, the geography of the valley forces transportation to be very north-south oriented, and this can cause severe traffic congestion on all major roads. The worst traffic is seen on I-15 north into Davis County, where rush hour traffic jams are a common sight, throughout the surface roads, especially in the heart of downtown and in the central and southern parts of the city. The Legacy Parkway was recently completed into Davis County and connects with I-215 in the far northern part of the city. This has significantly alleviated traffic during rush hour going into and out of Davis County.
Utah has many drivers on its roads from many different surrounding states and various countries. For the most part, you will find most western US drivers' styles consistent with other urban and rural locations. However, Utah drivers are somewhat known for being more prone to cutting people off and aggressively changing lanes. While driving in any location, the best advice is to safely follow the flow of traffic, whether it is faster in the city or slower in the country, obey all traffic laws, and be patient and courteous to other drivers.
Utah drivers also generally know how to drive in snow, although like anywhere there are still plenty of people who don't particularly transplants from sunnier locations.
By bus
The Utah Transit Authority UTA, +1 801 743-3882 (http://www.rideuta.com/) operates an extensive bus system that reaches the entire Wasatch Front, with the most extensive coverage in and around Salt Lake City. Every light rail TRAX station in Salt Lake City is connected by several bus routes. Only the most important routes operate during nighttime hours, Sundays, and holidays, although even nighttime routes will often end service around midnight. In winter, service to the four ski resorts located in the Cottonwood Canyons to the east, in the Wasatch Range, is provided. Standard one-way fares are $2.25. A day pass which is good for both bus and TRAX rides is $5.50, and most of downtown is a free fare zone for all UTA service bus and light rail.
By bike
Salt Lake City offers trails and routes through the city and around the city for bicyclists of all ages. It is legal to cycle on the sidewalk in all but the central blocks of the city; sidewalks tend to be wide and except for the center of the city with few pedestrians. State law requires sidewalk riders to signal audibly when they do overtake pedestrians. Many of the major attractions of the city are accessible by bicycle, and it is easy and quick to get out to the zoo or the university by bike.
Several major streets offer bicycle lanes and signed shared roadways, but some of these are too narrow and can place bicyclist in the "car-door zone." In some cases it may be easier to cycle on an adjacent quieter street heading the same direction. Navigation is easy, and if the street you are on looks too busy, there is always an alternative street to choose. The wider streets in the city centre don't make it any easier for cyclists, as they are just taken up with extra car lanes, and are just extra lanes to get across when turning. Roadway cyclists must follow the same traffic laws as cars.
There are some off-road paths and mountain bicycling trails, following the Jordan River south from I-80 is a well developed path, but a little desolate in parts. City Creek Canyon is open to bicycles only some days. The Salt Lake City Green Bikeways Map (http://www.ci.slc.ut.us/t...) provides detailed bicycle route information about these routes and trails.
Bicycles are permitted on all UTA (http://www.rideuta.com) buses, TRAX and Frontrunner trains. All bus routes have bike racks except for the ski routes and para-transit on-demand bus service. Bicycle lockers may also be rented from the UTA at several stations. In addition a new Bike Transit Center has just openedSept. 2010 at the Downtown Inter-modal hub which features bike rentals and a repair shop.