This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Officials are urging the tens of thousands gathering for LDS General Conference to carpool, use mass transit and take advantage of many options to watch or listen elsewhere.
And beware: Fares for buses and TRAX light rail go up April 1 — halfway through conference. It is no April Fools' Day joke. As part of a long-planned increase, regular adult one-way fares will jump from $2.25 to $2.35.
General sessions are scheduled for 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the LDS Conference Center in downtown Salt Lake City on Saturday and Sunday. A session for the church's male priesthood holders is Saturday at 6 p.m.
Attendance is by ticket. However, a standby line admits some people to unused spaces.
General sessions are scheduled to be broadcast on KSL-TV and radio. On the Internet, live video and audio are available at conference.lds.org (in many languages) or mormonchannel.org.
The Utah Transit Authority is providing additional TRAX service for conference.
"To accommodate demand, we run extra trains prior to and after each session," said UTA spokesman Gerry Carpenter. "We do have a scheduled fare increase that takes effect on April 1. So people who travel to conference on Saturday and Sunday need to be aware they will pay different fares on those days."
A full schedule plus a list of fares is available at rideuta.com
Carpenter urges TRAX passengers to buy round-trip tickets to avoid lines at ticket machines on their return trips. UTA also offers a group pass that allows up to four people to ride round trip for $13.50 on Saturday or $14 on Sunday on TRAX and buses.
Carpenter also notes that the FrontRunner commuter rail between Ogden and Salt Lake City does not operate on Sundays.
For those who are driving, parking for a fee is available at a number of private garages around the downtown area.
Public parking is not available at the Conference Center parking lot. Conference attendees should avoid parking in front of homes in downtown residential areas. Cars parked on neighborhood streets may be ticketed or towed at the owner's expense.
Disability parking is located at the West Temple lot just north of North Temple, the entrance to which is accessible when traveling south on West Temple.
Crowds downtown could swell beyond the usual conference crush during the weekend as Utahns continue to check out the long-awaited City Creek Center shopping complex, which debuted last week.