For the week of June 5 - 11, 2002

Commuter bus serving valley launched

Passengers relax, chat and 
enjoy the scenery

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By DANA DUGAN
Express Staff Writer

At least nine cars were not on Highway 75 Monday morning, thanks to the Peak Bus service for the Wood River Valley.

The new commuter bus is the brainchild of Beth Callister and the Wood River Rideshare program, of which she is the executive director.

Passengers board the afternoon commuter bus in Ketchum on its inaugural day servicing the Wood River Valley. Express photo by Willy Cook

There are three different runs northbound in the morning and three heading south in the afternoon.

On the first run, in the 6:00 hour, there were no riders on the first day. However, several jumped on and paid $1.50 for the 7:00 hour run.

There is only one bus in operation, which is why the times of the stops are timed the way they are. For instance, the 6:10 a.m. bus makes its run north, turns around and heads back in time to start over at 7:05 a.m.

Shanna Robinson, who works at the Ketchum District Ranger Station, was the Peak Bus’ first passenger. She boarded in Bellevue.

Callister offered free bottled water and bagels to commuters as they headed for a seat on the comfortable bus provided by Sun Valley Express. Riding along with her for the first runs was Rich Petersen, owner of Sun Valley Express. The bus holds 42 passengers.

The launch of the Peak Bus is due to a private-public partnership with area business, Blaine County and the cities of Ketchum and Sun Valley. The Sun Valley Ketchum Chamber & Visitors Bureau, the Sun Valley Co. and Wood River Rideshare have helped to spearhead sponsorship funding.

Anna Rau, of KTVB in Boise, took a ride Monday morning on the Peak Bus along with a camera man. They shot a segment of her piece at the bus stop across Highway 75 from St. Luke’s Wood River Medical Center. Express photo by Dana DuGan

Anna Rau, an KTVB anchor woman from Boise, and a cameraman also were along on the morning run to do a segment for the news. Noting the presence of the local press as well, Theresa Comber, of Lucas Marketing, said, "Idaho’s best news source and Idaho’s best newspaper, both on board."

A Chateau Drug employee, Lilia Ward, said it has offered to buy season bus passes for any employee who wanted one. She did.

The 7:23 a.m. bus had nine passengers who chatted amiably the entire ride north. When one passenger, Conrad Casser, who works in the Carrera Division at Smith Sport Optics, realized Ward worked at Chateau he said, "I need little bulbs to go along the floor, do you have those?"

No one noticed whether the traffic was slow or not—other than driver Robert Henefer—they only noticed that the view was lovely, the company congenial and they were, for a change, relaxed.

 

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.