February 04, 2011

love = Sundance buses



(click on photo for links and descriptions)

One of my big loves in life is public transportation. It's weird. I know. Disney buses are a huge fave. Park City's are equally as amazing.

During my entire stay in PC, I didn't drive, not once. This year, my brother was nice enough to pick me up and drop me off at the SLC airport, so I didn't have to rent a car.

All the city buses and theater buses are FREE in Park City. 100% FREE. It's wonderful to run and jump on and not have to worry about finding cash or change. You just jump on and ride around as much as you want. You can grab a seat or stand. Sometimes standing is a must because the buses are jam-packed with people. Especially if you get on at Eccles or the Yarrow. Those theaters let out and it's madness to find a spot.

The drivers are super nice. They were always so nice to answer a quick question of "will you go to Prospector?" or "does this bus go to HQ?" And they were fun and liked to chat with the people on the bus, if it wasn't too busy.


And then there were the volunteers. The Sundance volunteers. I think The Bro said there were about 1,500 volunteers. That's right. Free help. Anyway, I talked to bunches of them, and they were so, so nice. Seriously. Just kind and ready to chat. There is a volunteer stationed at each theater stop (side note: there is a theater loop bus that runs to just the theaters set up for Sundance. My condo was on that loop, which was awe-some. The theater loop bus would come every 10 minutes, so I never waited long.)
(my bus stop with the library (and my condo) in the background)

The volunteers would be there in their Sundance gear and traffic vest. They had walkie-talkies to help answer questions and let you know when a bus was coming. They also had a small propane heater at their station to try and keep warm. At each stop, there was a huge poster giving the theater loop directions and stops and telling you what bus went to what stop (you can see it in the back of the little glass bus stop hut).

I'm telling you, this thing is organized like Disney World. It's incredible. Last year, as a newbie, I asked about 5 million questions about which bus to take and what would get me to the stop I needed. Each and every time, I was answered with a happy smile and a kind word. This year, I felt completely confident in my bus hopping skills, so it was fun to sit back and enjoy the rides a little more.

If you ever go to Sundance, ride the buses. You'll meet tons of cool people. You'll have fun conversations with volunteers at the bus stops. It adds so much to the whole experience.

3 comments:

Kristi-Anna said...

You need to come visit me in Vienna. :0) This place has the best public transportation system. And while they don't really have movies, we could see some pretty amazing sites. :0)

Gina said...

I look forward to riding the FREE public transportation system with you next year. ;)

cottage girl said...

Kristi: Oh, how I wish I could!

G: I'll believe it when I see it....