High Valley Transit launched in 2021. And current COO Brad Herkimer was there in the beginning — just not as a full-time employee. He was part of High Valley’s contract with Via, which operates its microtransit service, a free version of a rideshare. He finally became a transit district employee last year.
“We had a single-wide trailer,” Herkimer remembered about 2021. “When I got there, we had to contract to get some bathrooms placed at Ecker Hill. I quickly ascertained that, being in Park City, we needed to figure out a plan for the winter. So the circus tent, or the white tent, came up.”
Last month, that tent at the Ecker Hill park-and-ride came down. Gone are the days of trudging 100 feet from the trailer, which got upgraded to a triple-wide, to the bathroom outdoors.
“So we just, you know, get up from our office and walk 5 feet and use indoor plumbing. Who knew? In 2025!” Herkimer laughed. “Although that now feels like a fringe benefit.”
The bus depot includes permanent maintenance facilities replete with a bus wash. Above the offices, which include bus driver lockers and showers, are nine apartments for fixed-route bus drivers.
High Valley says it’s an effort to attract and retain employees because living on a bus driver salary around Park City isn’t easy. There are two two-bedroom units and five one-bedrooms.
For High Valley board chair and former Summit County Councilmember Kim Carson, the facility wouldn’t be possible without staff’s commitment to expanding the district and its reach, which now includes Kamas and Heber.
“We have had our challenges. We've added positions as needs, resources and the opportunity grew. We have the most dedicated staff,” Carson said. “I thank each and every one of you for your commitment to this organization, and patience and endurance as you faced less-than-desirable working conditions.”
The new depot cost $46 million, with 30% funded by federal grants and the rest by local funding.
High Valley Transit did encounter budget and timeline difficulties because of bedrock below the surface of the county-owned land in Silver Summit. Crews had to level the land with explosives bit-by-bit after breaking ground in October 2022.
The work culminated in a party Friday afternoon, with music from the Park City High School jazz band and catering from Hill’s Kitchen. Attendees received tours of the new offices and facilities. Local officials sat for artists creating caricature drawings.
Nobody lives in the apartments yet but the offices are already buzzing with staff ready to run the bus service which, four years after its inception, remains free.
Summit County is a financial supporter of KPCW. For a full list, click here.
