Legislation Details

File #: 21-319   
Type: Service or Fare Approval Status: Passed
In control: Board of Trustees
On agenda: 9/8/2021 Final action: 9/8/2021
Title: Fare Contract: Ski Bus Agreement (Snowbird Ski Resort, LLC)
Indexes: Fare Agreement, Fixed Route - Special Service
Attachments: 1. Fare Contract: Ski Bus Agreement (Brighton Ski Resort), 2. Presentation- Ski Bus Agreements
Related files: 25-F28308, 24-F28230, 21-F0212-1, 22-F0212-A2

TO:                

Board of Trustees

THROUGH:  

Mary DeLoretto, Interim Executive Director

FROM:          

William Greene, Chief Financial Officer

PRESENTER(S):

William Greene, Chief Financial Officer

 

Kensey Kunkel, Mgr. Business Dev. And Sales

 

TITLE:                                                                                                                                                                         

title

Fare Contract: Ski Bus Agreement (Snowbird Ski Resort, LLC)

end

 

AGENDA ITEM TYPE:                                                                                                                        

Service or Fare Approval

RECOMMENDATION:                                                                                                                       

Authorize UTA to enter into a Ski Bus Agreement with Snowbird Ski Resort, LLC                                           

BACKGROUND:                                                                                                                                 

Utah Transit Authority (“UTA”) and Snowbird Ski Resort, LLC (“Resort”) have a longstanding relationship to promote the sustainability and growth of the Ski Bus Service in the Cottonwood Canyons. For the past 20 plus years, Snowbird Ski Resort, LLC and UTA have contracted together to provide transit service to employees and ski pass holders.

In the most recent ski season, 2020-21, Snowbird Ski Resort, LLC entered into a Ski Bus Agreement with UTA. UTA invoiced the Resort based on the monthly ridership counts using UTA’s Electronic Fare Collection (“EFC”) ridership counting system. The agreement allows the Resort’s authorized users to ride transit service in Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons, as well as routes that connect to Ski Bus. The Resort paid $4.00 per boarding which was a 20 percent discount of the public ski fare of $5.00.

This past January, the four (4) Cottonwood Canyon Ski Resorts and UTA formed a working group led by an independent facilitator. The purpose of the group was to explore alternative contract options to meet mutual transit-oriented goals and objectives and address any participating working group member’s concerns about entering into an alternative agreement.  To achieve this, stakeholder interviews were conducted, and feedback was obtained from the General Managers of each individual Resort, UTA Board Members, and UTA’s Executive Director.

Following the interviews and multiple group discussions, the Ski Resorts and UTA came to an agreement on contract options for the upcoming 2021-2022 ski season.

For the 2021-2022 Ski Season, UTA and Snowbird Ski Resort, LLC will enter a ski bus agreement that is billed in two ways based on the authorized user segment: Season Pass Holder and/or Employees:

1.                     Season Pass Holder

UTA will invoice Snowbird Ski Resort, LLC for transit use by the resort’s season pass holders based on a daily rate. In addition, for those authorized users whose cards are authorized for both ski and regular service, the Resort will be billed for each day a rider travels on regular service and does not travel on ski bus. An authorized user’s ski season pass will also act as the holder’s transit pass for the ski season.

                     20 percent discount off $10 rate

                     Manual billing adjustments

                     Valid on services as determined by the ski resorts (ski only, ski and regular)

                     Unlimited daily use

                     Regular service includes ski bus, local bus, and TRAX

                     No weekly cap

Billing will be based on an $8.00 per day rate with two adjustments as follows:

Adjustment #1 Shuttle

In addition to validated shuttle trips being deducted from the invoice, an additional four percent will be deducted from the total billable days.

Note: The adjustment accounts for riders that might only be using the shuttle. This is based on EFC data from Alta/Snowbird where a rider made one trip, the tap is a resort stop, and the rider failed to tap off or inform the driver that they were traveling between resorts. UTA agrees to split this 50/50 with the resorts considering that many riders are coming up/down the canyon and one trip was not captured in the system. 

Example:

Adjustment #2 Up/Down

For Alta/Snowbird, 12 percent of the billable days will be billed at $4.00 and the remaining days at $8.00. For Brighton/Solitude, seven percent of the billable days will be billed at $4.00 and the remaining days at $8.00.

Note: This adjustment is based on APC data up/down totals for the 2020/2021 season. 

 

                     

 

Example:

2.                     Employees

For the employees of Snowbird Ski Resort, LLC, UTA will invoice the resort based on a daily rate with a cap. Billing will be based on $8.00 per day and resorts will pay no more than $28 per week. An authorized user’s employee ID will also act as the holder’s transit pass for the ski season. Participation by 100% of the Resort employees is required to participate in this agreement.

                     20 percent discount off $10 rate

                     Maximum weekly charge is $28

                     Valid on ski bus, local bus, and TRAX

                     Unlimited daily use

 

DISCUSSION:                                                                                                                                      

Staff recommends that UTA enter into a Ski Bus Agreement with Snowbird Ski Resort, LLC for the 2021-22 Ski Season.

CONTRACT SUMMARY:                                                                                                                   

Contractor Name:                          

Snowbird Ski Resort, LLC

Contract Number:                          

21-F0212

Base Contract Effective Dates:     

November 1, 2021-May 31, 2022

New/Total Amount Contract Value:    

$167,800

 

 

ALTERNATIVES:                                                                                                                                    

Do not enter an agreement with Snowbird Ski Resort, LLC and renegotiate the contract terms

FISCAL IMPACT:                                                                                                                                

For the 2021-22 Ski Season, revenue for Snowbird Ski Resort, LLC is estimated to be $167,800. This estimate was calculated using ridership values from the 2020-21 Ski Season. The revenue may vary based on actual ridership for the upcoming 2021-22 season, however a decrease in revenue compared to 2020-21 is not anticipated.

ATTACHMENTS:                                                                                                                                

Contract