The Bobsled Express, The Bob for short, will run seven miles on state Route 224 between Kimball Junction and Old Town Park City. The trip will take roughly 17 minutes.
The route has six stops and will replace High Valley Transit’s High Line – commonly known as the 10X express – combining dedicated bus rapid transit lanes with mixed-use lanes.
High Valley Transit Chief Development Officer Gabriel Shields said, when complete in 2028, the bus will arrive every 15 minutes. During busy days, that could be every 10 minutes and over the Olympics, every two to three.
“That’s one of the key attributes of bus rapid transit is it’s really kind of billed as a train on rubber tires,” he said.
Construction on the roughly $102 million project began in April. The team hopes to finish construction by the end of next year.
High Valley Transit is working with the Utah Department of Transportation, contractor Stacy Witbeck and local stakeholders to accomplish this goal.
Kat La Chapelle, a project manager at Stacy Witbeck, said the collaboration took years.
“When you actually watch the construction, it’s three, two and a half, three years,” La Chapelle said. “But really, this has been a 10-year process of planning the project, getting funding for the project, talking through the issues.”
Shields said The Bob alone could transport up to 5,000 people per day. Right now, 3,000 to 4,000 people use High Valley Transit each day.
“Whether you take transit or not, everyone really benefits from this system,” Shields said.
He said about 70% of riders are part of the Wasatch Back workforce.
“Those are the people that are bussing the tables, that are changing sheets, that are spinning the lifts,” Shields said. “The quality of our life that we enjoy in the Wasatch Back is so heavily dependent on people that don’t have access to a car. You know, this project is so much bigger than just getting from your house to a ski resort.”
Part of the new bus rapid transit project will open this winter with dedicated bus lanes between Olympic Parkway and Canyons Drive.
High Valley Transit will continue off-road construction on The Bob bus stops through the 2026-2027 ski season, weather permitting.
When complete in fall 2028, the dedicated bus lanes will run from Kimball Junction to Old Town.
High Valley Transit is a financial supporter of KPCW.
