If you ask 10 people what they love about Park City, you’ll get 100 different answers. If you ask 100 people what they don’t like about Park City, responses are likely to be limited to just a couple, with parking and traffic jostling for the top spot.
We’ve complained about the traffic and lack of parking for years, always insisting it simply cannot get any worse, then shaking our heads in disbelief when it inevitably does each season. Over the decades, the situation has gone from inconvenient to bad to terrible to whatever we call it now. Car-astrophic?
With good intentions but questionable effectiveness, the city has responded by adding more buses, more bus routes, more bus stops, incentives to ride the bus, paid parking programs and whatever it is you call the current nightmare at the base of Park City Mountain. I attempted it once this year and can only explain it as the motorized version of an escape room. Luckily, I was only dropping off some friends who were visiting and was able to break out of the labyrinth with limited physical and emotional scarring.
My ski pass is at Deer Valley, which admittedly has had its own vehicle-related issues this season. Not the kind that makes you feel like you’re competing in 24 Hours of Le Mans while blindfolded, but a test of endurance, patience and luck nonetheless. Most weekends, the notification that the lots are full goes out before 9 a.m., and occasionally that’s the case during regular weekdays too.
Despite the alerts, people still drive. In circles mostly.
Of course, none of this is a surprise. A few months ago, City Hall transportation officials released a calendar predicting the worst days for traffic this ski season. Between November and April, staffers projected 93 days of peak traffic, with roughly two-thirds of those days considered “maximum peak days,” meaning the number of cars would exceed road and parking capacity. Suffice it to say, the mathematical formula staffers used to come up with 93 days turned out to be about as accurate as the one The Chicago Tribune relied on in 1948. Predicting a mere 93 peak days is Park City’s “Dewey Defeats Truman” moment.
Finally — and thankfully — Deer Valley has provided a solution. Last weekend, the resort began offering direct shuttle service from Treasure Mountain Middle School to Snow Park Lodge. The private shuttle is free, it leaves every 15 minutes, and there’s no stopping between pick-up and drop-off. And guess what? It was a smashing success. Both Saturday and Sunday, the middle school lots were full. Deer Valley parking attendants directed drivers so there was no confusion about where to park or catch your ride. And on Sunday, the resort hadn’t even run out of parking spaces by midday. Which is pretty notable given the capacity issues we’ve seen most weekends.
The solution isn’t remarkable — we’ve been screaming it for years: direct access works.
The city’s status quo has been to have multiple buses wind through neighborhoods, stopping at essentially every other mailbox, hitting local businesses, being sure to swing by Main Street where passengers may or may not have to transfer to another bus, and then, eventually, delivering riders to their destination. It’s a fair assumption that when given the option, people are always going to take the fastest route to their destination. The old saying that time is money is no longer true. Time is far more valuable. After all, anyone can get more money. As long as the buses take more time than driving, they’re essentially a waste of time.
I hope the city takes notice and begins revising bus routes. Instead of stopping 40-plus times each ride, offer direct access from parking and people hubs — the schools, the park and rides near Jeremy Ranch and Richardson Flat, and of course Main Street. There can still be neighborhood bus service, but it doesn’t have to be so frequent. In an attempt to make public transportation convenient, we’ve made it exceptionally inconvenient in terms of time. If you don’t believe me, we can discuss on the Deer Valley direct shuttle next weekend.