Ski bus service along the Wasatch Front is growing in popularity. As a result, the Utah Transit Authority is proposing increasing the frequency of trips up and down Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons, improved midday service and a new route between Davis County and Snowbasin resort.
UTA is asking for the public’s feedback at upcoming public hearings or by email to [email protected].
Ski Service Public Hearings
Wednesday, Sept. 28
5 to 7 p.m. at the Davis County Central Library, 155 Wasatch Dr., Layton.
Monday, October 3
4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Midvale City Hall, 7505 South Holden Street, Midvale.
Thursday, October 6
4 to 6 p.m. at Sandy City Hall, 10000 Centennial Pkwy, Multi-Purpose Room, Sandy.
UTA has proposed a new ski bus route to connect riders from the Layton FrontRunner Station and other key transit locations to Snowbasin Resort. If approved, route 677 will serve Layton Hills Mall, local hotels, and select Davis County Park & Ride lots on route to Snowbasin. The route will operate seven days a week and offer two morning trips to the resort and two return trips in the afternoon.
Improvements to Salt Lake Ski Service
UTA, in coordination with its ski resort partners in the Cottonwood Canyons, has identified a number of challenges with present ski bus service. These challenges include limited parking for ski bus riders outside of the Cottonwood canyons, overcrowded ski buses, no midday ski bus service and inconsistent service frequency. In response to these challenges, UTA has developed a service proposal that improves ski bus service in the following ways:
- A 35 percent increase in Cottonwood canyons ski service trips.
- All day service during ski season at 15 minute intervals during peak traffic times in the canyons and 30 minute service during the day, seven days per week
- A ski bus connection with FrontRunner at Murray Station.
- Nearly 300 additional parking spots for ski bus riders (made available by rerouting some ski bus connections to serve the Murray Central TRAX/Murray FrontRunner Station and the Bingham Junction TRAX Station in Midvale).
- No additional cost to riders or taxpayers. Improvements will be made by reallocating existing ski service funds.
To accomplish these goals, ski bus service will be streamlined to three routes with more frequent service. Proposed service changes include:
- Route 953 will serve Little Cottonwood Canyon resorts, select Park & Ride lots and Murray Central Station with 12 trips per day, including six trips in the a.m. hours and six trips in the p.m. hours.
- Route 992 will be changed to route 994 and will serve Little Cottonwood Canyon resorts, select Park & Ride lots and Historic Sandy TRAX Station. Route 994 will operate every 15 minutes starting at 6:30 a.m. until 9:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. until 6 p.m. It will also operate every 30 minutes between 9:30 a.m. and 3 p.m.
- Route 960 will be changed to route 972 and will serve Big Cottonwood Canyon resorts, select Park & Ride lots, and the Bingham Junction and Midvale Fort Union TRAX stations. The route will operate every 15 minutes starting at 6:30 a.m. until 9:30 a.m. and from 3 p.m. until 6 p.m. It will also offer service every 30 minutes between 9:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. In addition, there will be a night route leaving Brighton at 8:35 p.m.
- Ski bus routes will be streamlined to three routes, routes 953, 992 and 972. Routes 951, 952 and 954 are proposed to be eliminated. Resources from these routes will be used to provide the proposed service increases..
If approved, all ski bus changes, including debut of the new route 677 from Layton to Snowbasin Resort, will be in effect for the 2016-2017 ski season.
