Olympic organizers have secured 10 more buses for its sold-out shuttle service to mountain venues ? but they aren't prepared to take new reservations.
Fraser Bullock, chief operating officer for the Salt Lake Organizing Committee, said Friday it would take a few days to get things in place. "Don't call today," he said.
Transportation planners are still figuring out where spectators will leave their own vehicles before boarding the fleet downtown.
Most patrons will have to drive or be driven downtown because Mountain Venue Express and public transit schedules do not mesh.
Buses depart the Salt Lake City-County Building at 5 a.m. or 5:30 a.m. for morning events at Utah Olympic Park. Riders are asked to arrive at least one-half hour early.
The earliest TRAX or a UTA bus reaches downtown, even on expanded schedules, is about 5:30 a.m.
UTA spokesman Kris McBride said SLOC originally scheduled the mountain venue buses to leave downtown at 6 a.m. and UTA was planning on getting people there by then.
But SLOC recently notified transit officials of the earlier departures and ask they be accommodated, he said.
"There's no way we can get the train to go earlier," McBride said. "We share track with the Salt Lake City Southern (freight train)."
Although SLOC has encouraged spectators of the 2002 Winter Games to take public transportation downtown, the committee now realizes more must drive than anticipated.
Obtaining extra buses ? bringing the total to 85 ? was the easy part, Bullock said. Each bus has capacity for 45 passengers, meaning an additional 450 people a day will be able to ride.
Finding more parking space for those people, though, has proven difficult.
SLOC has 550 stalls on the block between 400 South and 500 South and Main Street and West Temple.
"We're looking to add to that by 50 percent," said Michael Huerta, SLOC director of public information for transportation. SLOC is contemplating opening a remote parking lot and shuttling spectators to the City-County Building, he said.
Mountain Venue Express ticket sales were sluggish until SLOC slashed the price to $5 from $20 per person. More than 42,000 spectators have signed up for the service.
The clamor for reservations prompted SLOC to add more buses. It also has withheld 10 percent of the seats for international visitors.
E-mail: romboy@desnews.com; lculler@desnews.com