One month in, the word is out, and commuters from Heber City are relying on the new bus to and from Park City — especially those going to ski resorts.
Not everyone who lives in Heber and works in Park City drives daily, and especially not since High Valley Transit expanded bus service into Heber City a month ago.
Giuli Palacio usually drives from Heber to her shifts at 501 On Main. But faced with an emergency situation, she appreciated having another option.
“For me, the bus is so cool now because my car is broken,” Palacio said. “Today's the first time. One of my friends that lives here, she told me about it, so I started to use it right now.”
Palacio is from Argentina and will stay in the area for six months on a J1 visa.
She was one of several J1 workers who got on the bus Tuesday morning at 9 a.m. to go to Park City. There were five passengers in the 14-seater on that route, which bus driver Theodore Gross said was a light trip compared to recent weeks.
“It started with a trickle there, and maybe a handful of folks,” Gross said. “And then the last two weeks, it's definitely been a great response. We've gotten anywhere from 15 to over 25 people on each trip there. So, it's been great. Really good response for the community, for sure.”
He said most passengers he picks up are on the way to ski resorts, either to work there or go skiing.
Gross’s daily routine involves a lot of time behind the wheel. He leaves his home in Evanston before 4 a.m., then goes to Heber Valley Hospital to pick up the first passengers at 6 a.m. He and one other driver alternate on that hourly loop through 11 a.m.
In the afternoons, buses start in Park City at 3 p.m. and do final pickups at 8 p.m. The schedule is the same on weekdays and weekends.
Some say they appreciate the bus but would like to see it run later.
Maricielo Cevallos from Peru said she still may need to buy a car to share with friends and coworkers at the St. Regis. She was on her way to be four hours early for her 2 p.m. shift, which would end hours after the last bus back to Heber.
“It will be helpful if they can open more shifts in the afternoon, like 11 a.m. or 12 p.m., something like that,” Cevallos said. “If they can open also a shift at 11 p.m., [I can] come home in the same bus.”
High Valley Transit Executive Director Caroline Rodriguez told KPCW last month she had already heard the request for later buses and would look into it.
Others on the bus Tuesday rode from the Wasatch Commons apartments to the restaurant where they work in Heber City. One rider from Heber City to Park City who brought ski gear said she was from Spain and had been living around the world to ski, including the southern hemisphere during summer months.
A pair who boarded at Park City Hospital said they needed a ride to the Park City InstaCare.
As of Tuesday, Rodriguez said there had been just over 1,000 boardings during the first 30 days of the Heber route. She said the numbers suggest High Valley will need bigger buses for the route to Heber City.
