Utah — After years of packed buses due to a lack of service, they’re finally improving the situation this winter.
Earlier this month, the Utah Transit Authority (UTA) announced that it is expanding the ski bus service for the 2024-25 season. These new routes, labeled CS1 and CS2, are in partnership with The Driver Provider, a third party that will operate them daily.
The CS1 will only run in the early (6-8:30 a.m.) and late (5-7:30 p.m) hours of the day. It will run from Midvale Fort Union TRAX Station to the Alta Goldminer’s Daughter Lodge. This is intended for workers who go up early or leave later in the day. In addition, it will be an optimal route for those who are early risers or want to enjoy some apres before heading back down.
The CS2 route will perform stops every thirty minutes from 6:20 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. The route will commence at 6200 South Wasatch Park and Ride lot and conclude at Goldminer’s Daughter Lodge. This is intended to provide much-needed assistance for the 994 route up Little Cottonwood Canyon.
Gavin Gustafson, who’s the spokesperson for UTA, described the importance of these new buses to KSL:
“This isn’t just about the ski service. We want to provide the same level of service in the winter as we do all throughout the year, throughout our entire system. Bringing on canyon service one and two, and working with the driver provider allows us to keep the same level of service throughout our system while also providing the ski service.”
One-way tickets are $5 ($2.50 for those who qualify for reduced fare) but are free for Ikon Pass and season passholders (i.e., Alta, Snowbird, etc.).
These ski bus routes start on varying dates over the next month. The Cottonwood Canyon ski bus routes (972 & 994) will launch on November 29th. Powder Mountain’s UTA bus route (674) will kick off on December 6th. The Snowbasin bus routes (67% & 677) will start on December 8th. The new CS1 & CS2 routes will commence on December 8th. The bus route to Sundance (880) is planned to begin on December 21st.
Image/Video Credits: Utah Transit Authority
