Olympic ticket holders who don't carpool to mountain venues could end up paying a hefty parking fee, Salt Lake Organizing Committee President Mitt Romney warns.
Romney said Monday organizers are considering charging solo drivers or those with only one passenger a "substantial" fee to use the park-and-ride lots near Park City and other mountain venues. Cars carrying at least three people would park for free.
Just how much that fee might be has not yet been determined. But Romney said any proceeds would go to the U.S. Department of Transportation, which is helping to fund the lots, rather than SLOC.
Rather than raising money, the intent of the fee would be to encourage carpooling. Ticket holders would also have the option of paying $30 round-trip for a seat on a private bus for the ride from Salt Lake City.
The final version of SLOC's transportation plan, made public Monday, states that a determination on parking fees at lots near events in Park City, the Snowbasin Ski Area or Soldier Hollow in Wasatch Mountain State Park will be made in the future.
Controlling traffic along I-80 during the Games is a concern. Romney called the freeway linking Salt Lake City and Park City "clearly the most challenging choke-point" for transportation planners.
SLOC decided against using public transportation along the route because it would take double or triple the bus fleet already being used for the spectator system that will serve venues in the valley.
More than 900 buses, including 800 that will be loaned from transit systems throughout the United States, make up the system. Olympic ticket-holders will likely not have to pay to ride either a UTA bus or light-rail vehicle.
Between 85 and 100 private buses will be used to transport ticket-holders to mountain venues from Salt Lake City as well as Ogden and Provo. Reservations will be needed for the private buses.
Utahns will hear more about the impact all that traffic will have on their daily lives when SLOC comes up with a public information plan this fall. Organizers say they'll suggest that companies have their workers arrive earlier than usual to avoid congestion.
The actual impact "depends on where you are and how close you are to Olympic activity," said Grant Thomas, the organizing committee's senior vice president of venues and transportation.
Romney said every Olympics has faced challenges in the area of transportation and Salt Lake City will be no different. Organizers, he said, virtually "turn on" a transportation system overnight.
There will be some opportunity to test the separate transportation systems being set up for athletes and the news media before the actual start of the Games, but the spectator system won't be up and running until events begin.
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