SALT LAKE CITY — Ahead of the winter season, Utah Transit Authority announced changes will take place on some bus routes, including ski bus services, due to staffing shortages.
The changes will be put into effect on December 11.
Ski bus service route 953, which travels from the Midvale Ft. Union Station to Snowbird/Alta, will be suspended.
Route 972, which travels from the Midvale Ft. Union Station to Solitude/Brighton, will only be taking trips every 30 minutes instead of every 15 minutes.
For route 994, which travels from the Historic Sandy Station to Snowbird/Alta, trips will also be spaced out to every 30 minutes instead of every 15 minutes.
In the Ogden service area, ski-service bus routes 674, 675 and 677, which travel to Powder Mountain and Snowbasin will be "restructured to run more mid-day and fewer peak trips," officials with UTA reported.
“UTA takes service reductions very seriously and recognizes the impact it will have for riders who rely on us," said Carlton Christensen, Chair of the UTA Board of Trustees. "As we responded to this emergency situation, we worked to minimize the impacts as much as possible, and focused on maintaining service for essential riders, the equity of the impacts among all riders, and tried to maintain service and connections all day for the greatest number of people.”
In addition to ski bus service routes, changes are also coming to regular bus routes, also effective December 11.
In Salt Lake County, the following routes will be modified:
- 39: Adjusted from 15-minutes to 30-minutes service
- 201: Adjusted from 30-minutes to 60-minutes service
- 218: Adjusted from 30-minutes to 60-minutes service
- 240: Adjusted from 15-minutes to 30-minutes service; and the actual route will be streamlined
In Park City, the following bus routes will be impacted:
- 901: Will be suspended
- 902: Shortened to 3900 S/Wasatch
In Ogden, five local bus routes will change:
- 603: Certain trips will be suspended
- 612: Certain trips will be suspended
- 625: Adjusted from 30-minutes to 60-minutes
- 645: Adjusted from 30-minutes to 60-minutes
- 650: Will be suspended
Certain trips on regional routes 455, 470, and 640, which travel between major Utah cities will also be suspended.
The changes in bus route services to popular Utah ski areas come as an ongoing debate continues over if a gondola should be built in Little Cottonwood Canyon to address traffic and safety concerns.
UTA officials go on to say that while they have strategies to deal with the shortage of operators, their efforts will not be able to address current staffing concerns going into the winter months.
