Come on and Take a Free Ride
Photography Patrick Cone
From 6:12 a.m. to 2: 30 a.m., Park City/Summit County’s FREE Bus System shuttles locals and tourists alike pretty much anywhere and everywhere in and around Park City. From the winding vistas of upper Deer Valley to the straight shot of Highway 224 out to Kimball Junction, Park City’s roadsides are dotted with friendly blue signs indicating the many stops served by Park City buses.
Twenty-five years ago, the service was strictly seasonal, and buses basically operated as shuttles to and from the mountain resort. Today, passengers can access grocery stores, cinemas, health and fitness clubs, the Utah Olympic Park and the attractions offered by the Tanger Factory Stores and Redstone Development, in addition to service from main neighborhood outposts and schools, including Park Meadows, Pinebrook, Silver Summit and Highland Estates, and The Colby School, Ecker Hill International Middle School, Trailside Elementary and Parley’s Park Elementary.
Park City Transit Director Erik Nessett credits the rise in ridership to the Olympics. “The presence of the new Transit Center in Old Town and the fact that people got really familiar with riding the bus during the Games has made it very popular. People have a warm place to wait; and they really enjoy the artwork on the buses.”
In addition to remaining accessible to tourists, the bus system plays an important role in the daily commute of seasonal and year-round workers at Park City’s resorts and hotel and restaurant industries. “We increased our early morning service so anyone who needs to can get to work by 7 a.m. Every year we confer with the human resources departments at the resorts and tweak our services just a little bit so they are more accessible for the resort employees. We know how important it is to communicate directly with the resorts, because we wouldn’t have this system without them, and we want to make sure their workers can use it.” Expanding the service into the County has also caused a big leap in numbers. After entering into a contract with Summit County in the spring of 2002, the City sent a bus from Park City to Kimball Junction every hour. The route became so popular that it quickly required four buses to service passenger demand.
Bus operators come face to face with tourists more than any other branch of City government. Nearly two million people curious about the best places to eat, grab a coffee, find a bathing suit or get a contact lens prescription filled will rely on their friendly drivers to direct them. City Council Member Roger Harlan, a former transit bus operator, stressed the importance of the service to the success of Park City as a popular destination resort. “A serious amount of time and training is involved in driving on time, driving safely, and treating the public as our guests.”
Harlan employed several humorous devices to entertain his passengers and amuse himself. “Sometimes when the bus wasn’t too full, I would have a little fun with the passengers. If someone were to ask me if the bus stopped at a particular point, say, the library, I would say, ‘I know some of the drivers stop there, and I used to, but I don’t anymore. If you’d like, I could slow the bus down to a crawl, and you could jump out when we go by—I’ve had people do it before, and I think I’ve only had one sprained ankle.’”
When Harlan drove the Main Street Trolley up and down Main Street, he enjoyed letting children ring the bell. “If I saw a child about 5 or 6 years old, I would announce, ‘Would the boy in the back of the bus like to ring the bell?’ and it would be a big hit. The child would slowly make his or her way up, or the parents would bring them up and the children would stand on the platform and ring the bell, and I would usually say, “Now did someone teach you how to ring a trolley bell before, because you are really good at it!” I think many of those children will probably remember that experience for the rest of their lives when they think about Park City. With very little work, the drivers become real ambassadors of Park City.”
Trying to anticipate how to accommodate the needs of a growing ridership over the next 20 years is currently a challenge. The Transit Center reports that ridership has grown from 1.5 million in 2004 to 1.7 million last year. According to Nessett, the feasibility of creating routes to and from Salt Lake City, Kamas, Coalville and Heber City is being studied. These additions would require a larger transit facility and twice the number of buses. With 80 percent of the Transit Center’s capitol projects funded by grants from the Federal Transit Authority in the past, this expansion seems entirely within Park City’s reach.
Bus stops are easy to find! Just look for the blue signs with white lettering. Routes and departure times are posted at each stop. The Park City Transit Center is located in Swede Alley at the corner of Heber Avenue and Main Street. For more information, please call 435.615.5350.
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