SALT LAKE CITY — After a season of complaints about transportation to and from ski resorts in Salt Lake County, a new ski bus service is accepting reservations with the goal to ease congestion in the canyons.
"Cottonwood Connect" will begin taking recreators to Utah's mountain resorts on Thursday, and it'll only cost $10 to hitch a ride.
"I think it's going to be a great experience, a comfortable ride, so it's going to be well worth the $10," explained Kaitlin Eskelson, President and CEO of Visit Salt Lake.
The main difference between the new shuttle service and ski buses operated by Utah Transit Authority is the fact that "Cottonwood Connect" operates entirely on a reservation system.
The reservation system allows passengers to guarantee a ride on a specified date and time.
"They will actually pick where they want to get picked up and what resort they want to go to," Eskleson said. "So the driver will absolutely know where to drop them off and where to pick them up."
Reservations for January 26-29 opened Thursday, with reservations for the end of January as well as the entire month of February opening on January 30.
"There's a handful of spots that are both hotel pick-ups as well as park and ride locations," Eskleson said. "Really this is meant to be for visitors and for residents and locals to just get up the canyon and have a great day."
UTA has come under criticism this season after some of its ski bus routes were suspended and routes were lengthened from every 15 minutes to every 30 minutes due to a bus driver shortage.
Because of the less frequent runs, ski buses have been filled to capacity at times, with recreators not able to get rides.
In early January, the Salt Lake County Council approved more than $200 thousand for the new "Cottonwood Connect" service.
The shuttle service also is funded by Visit Salt Lake, UTA and various ski resorts in Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons.
Eskleson explained the program is very much in a "pilot" phase, and leaders will help adjust and make the service even better as it goes on. She has one piece of advice for those wanting to give the new shuttle a try.
"Book now," she said. "It's definitely going to fill up."
