With the fresh snowfall, many are heading to the mountain. The problem? Sometimes it’s jam-packed.
UTA is trying to eliminate congestion by encouraging people to use ski buses, and this year is different than the rest.
“Every year, we look and see how can UTA do this service…we’ve come up with some changes that we think people will notice and that will be for the better,” says UTA Sr. Media Relations Specialist, Carl Arky.
UTA partnered with Central Wasatch Commission to implement changes with the goal to serve Utahns and visitors more efficiently as they travel to Brighton Resort, Solitude Mountain Resort, Alta Ski Area or Snowbird.
Those adjustments were done in the bus garage — a place where UTA buses undergo all sorts of repairs. Ed Barahona, a Body Shop class A mechanic, explained the changes as he gave us a tour of the bus.
“This is where the ski rack used to be,” he said, pointing to the empty space in front of the main doors. Ed also explained the new handrail addition with a couple of straps. However, not all buses underwent these changes. Out of approximately 600 buses, only 34 of them were adjusted for the skiing season.
Riding a UTA ski bus would mean door to door service and no more parking search.
Jackson Smith, a local skier, said, “For holidays, it gets super busy so you have to walk a long way across the parking lot.” At times, that includes walking half a mile or even a mile to get to the entrance of the ski resort.
The changes, combined with other adjustments in routes and parking, will speed up the loading process, increase capacity for more riders, and help with road congestion. The public can specifically anticipate a 26% increase in trips on route 953.
Arky says all these changes will get people up the mountain faster while remembering to do so “safely but quickly.”
For more information about schedules and routes visit rideUTA.com.
