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Show Wednesday, December 31, 1997 The Park Record A-9 Rediscovering the convenience of the Park City Transit system Waiting for a Park City bus is generally not a cold adventure by Kevin M. Schultz RECORD GUEST WRITER With the inevitable and perhaps discouraging arrival of parking meters on Park City's most famous street, many Parkites will consider other routes of travel to accomplish their daily pursuits. For obvious reasons, the most natural alternative is public transportation trans-portation which, in Park City, means the seemingly unpredictable gray and blue buses. This thought weighing heavily on my mind, I decided to take my list of things-to-do on the road of public transportation. En route, I learned "unpredictable" is not the correct adjective. The day was clear and cold. Boasting no official bus schedule and my forever-young mother at my side, I journeyed over the quarter-mile quarter-mile of frost-covered greens to the nearest bus stop. This initial trek was to be the most challenging of the day. Together we waited zero seconds before the first bus arrived! It was as if it was waiting for us. So we boarded board-ed the bus and ambitiously headed to Park Avenue's library to return some overdue Robert Frost. The bus, empty with passengers but filled with an overly-helpful driver dri-ver who cautiously eyed the scrawling scrawl-ing in my notebook, made several fruitless stops before unloading my mother and me only 20 paces from the library. The entire trip, bus stop to bus stop, took five easy minutes. Then, after a 10-minute respite spent leafing through the bus schedule, sched-ule, my mother and I sought out Dan's Foods, inside of which lies my bank. This trip was equally easy. From the library, we made a brief stop at the Park City Mountain Resort one of the buses' two main "stations": (the other is at the bottom bot-tom of Main Street) before disembarking disem-barking at the Yarrow, a mere three-minute three-minute walk from Dan's. I remind you here that the weather on this particular day was clear and sunny. In arctic conditions the three-minute walk might not deserve the description "mere." With my banking needs met, my mother and I recounted that every traveler with whom we had spoken was most definitely a tourist, generally gener-ally visiting from some town in the southern ;United States, 'The; 'only; suspected local We-found We-found (he exited the bus shortly after we boarded, thus precluding any conversation) was a young Latino gentleman who entered an "employees only" door at one of Park City's stores. I concede that our journey had begun at 11 a.m., a time when most Parkites are working. work-ing. One bus driver insisted the buses were fuller in the early mornings morn-ings and the late afternoons. Our trip continued. From Dan's, we missed the next bus by approximately approxi-mately two seconds and decided that rather than wait 15 minutes for the next bus, it would be quicker to walk to The Park Record building, where I could visit my editor and share my mother with my co-workers. After a brief professional consultation, consul-tation, my mother and I headed to the Stein Eriksen Lodge with hopes of drinking hot chocolate with the little stirrers shaped like skis. We never did this, but our failure was not because of the bus system, rather because Stein had forgotten to order my favorite stirring devices this winter. Our trip to Stein's, however, how-ever, was not without incident. At the initial point of departure, After departing the bus, the Main Steet trolley is an easy way to travel up the hill to shops and restaurants. at Prospector Square, we waited, and waited, and waited. After 15 minutes, my chilled mother peremptorily declared we had made a costly mistake. Naturally, she was right (she is, after all, my mother). Indeed we were waiting for the Prospector Square Express bus that begins service at 3:05 p.m. every afternoon. By my watch it was slowly slow-ly nearing 1 p.m. Unfortunately, there was no sign explaining this occurrence anywhere any-where at the stop, although the fact was clearly marked on the written schedule. Thus, it was strictly our error, but one anyone could make. Once we learned of our error we headed to a more desirable stop, and boarded another punctual bus at 1:42. The bus, this time filled with tourists and skiers, dropped us at PCMR, where we immediately boarded a bus headed to the bottom of Main Street. The bus from Main Street didn't leave for Stein's for another half hour, which was nothing noth-ing a brief visit to Dolly's couldnt remedy. After poring over 20 minutes worth of books, our bus arrived. One tourist with a handy schedule and the vital "winter service schedule" sched-ule" confided that "the buses have been on time pretty much throughout through-out our visit." That said, one of the 40 bus drivers dri-vers employed by the bus system drove one of the two smaller, more mobile buses up to Deer Valley's mid -mountain where we learned of Stein's unfortunate oversight. So, we skipped hot chocolate and caught another punctual bus down to our final destination home. Our day was complete and we were both pleasantly surprised by the ease with which we accomplished accom-plished our day's goals. To the traveler, I offer only one bit of advice: be sure to pick up the more comprehensible "winter service ser-vice schedule." It will make your journey much easier. To the bus company, I offer two suggestions: first, mark which buses will stop at which stops and when, and secondly, expand your coverage deeper into the Solamere and Oaks areas. With the tremendous growth in Park City, these seem to be the only major gaps in your service. Other than that, keep up the good work and happy riding. dtp dtmm (3ZP j ' A New Year was dawning on Table 21, and Joyce was determined to make the most of it. Whether you re sitting at Ta tie 21 or Table 12, the Gold ener Hirsch Inn is simply an enchanting place to celebrate the New Year. Discover our superh cuisine, personalized service and elegant Austrian setting for yourself. Returning often may become one of your resolutions. Winter Hours Breakfast from 7 - 9:30 am Lunch from 11:30 am - 2:30 pm Apres Shi from 2:30 - 6 pm. Dinner from 6 - 9:30 pm Call for reservations. (435) 649-7770 (MiMmii?iD) "5 at A WcwYcop a Eve s D cs b LTni "Ct n oo All yoM can eat amaIii! All you can ecrt appetizcrA; (PorLGyoza, Scallops Seviclic, Age DaAkSTofu, Sdrimp & Vegetable Tempura, MUoSoup) CHOICE OF DINNER ENTREE LobAter Ravioli with Curry Emulsion Sauce or Grilled Beef Tenderloin with Chili Peanut Sauce Dessert & Beverages included One Seating Only! 7:30pm Reservation Required $100 per perAon plttA 18 gratuity 738 Main St. 435-655-7100 Park City DEER VALLEY Restaurant I Sushi Bar TT O Q TT TT COPY |