Park City wants to expand bus service to the Quinn’s Junction area this winter to make transit more accessible. The Park City Council will review three options Thursday.
City Manager Adam Lenhard said staff is considering the expansion because Quinn’s Junction has grown in recent years.
“As we're looking at traffic patterns and the employment growth out there with the new units coming online at Studio Crossing, it makes sense to try to expand service to that area,” he said on KPCW’s “Local News Hour” Sept. 30.
According to a staff report, two options include adding a new bus line, called the 10-Pink route.
One proposal is to provide full-day service, with buses running every 30 minutes from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Lenhard said the fixed route would start at Fresh Market on state Route 224 and make stops at the Park City Hospital and Studio Crossing in Round Valley.
“Once you get to Fresh Market, the connections to the resorts and to the Old Town Transit Center — they're frequent, reliable,” he said. “So that's a very easy connection to make.”
A full-day Pink route option is the most expensive at over $1,900 per day.
Another option at about half the cost — $1,000 per day — is for the Pink route to provide midday service from 8:45 a.m. to 4 p.m.
This would fill a gap left by High Valley Transit’s 102 and 106 commuter routes, which service the Park City Hospital during the morning and evening. However, this would leave Studio Crossing without bus access during those times.
The final option doesn’t have any implementation costs. It combines the Pink and Silver bus routes into one. It would provide midday service from the Old Town Transit Center to Richardson Flat around every 40 minutes.
During peak hours, the Silver would still stop at resort bases.
Lenhard said the three options could also include a stop at the National Ability Center in the future.
“The primary objective here is to have the buses hit Studio Crossing, and then over to Park City Hospital,” he said. “Long term, we would love to provide transit service to both the National Ability Center and the ice arena.”
However, the road to the two buildings near Round Valley is not public and can’t currently be used for transit.
The council will discuss the route alternatives at 4:30 p.m. Thursday in City Hall.
Park City Municipal is a financial supporter of KPCW.
