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The Utah Transit Authority says a redesign of its ski bus service in Big Cottonwood and Little Cottonwood canyons — plus plentiful snow this season — has brought a significant boost in ridership so far this year.

The changes increased frequency in the canyons but discontinued direct service from downtown Salt Lake City — requiring skiers to take other existing rail or bus routes, or drive, to catch ski buses near the canyons or at midvalley rail stations.

Changes increased the number of ski bus trips in the two canyons by 35 percent, providing canyon service all day seven days a week — at 15-minute intervals at peak times and every 30 minutes at other times.

UTA said ski bus ridership in December in those canyons jumped by 23 percent on weekdays, 24 percent on Saturdays and 50 percent on Sundays, compared to December 2015.

In January, ridership was up by 33 percent on weekdays, 31 percent on Saturdays and 48 percent compared to the previous January.

In February, numbers were even better. Ridership rose by 50 percent on weekdays, 76 percent on Saturdays and 88 percent on Sundays.

While plentiful snow also helped attract more skiers, Christopher Chestnut, UTA senior manager of service planning, said ridership on the redesigned routes increased at a much higher rate than ridership on other UTA ski bus routes.

"People have really liked the flexibility and frequency of this service. They can go up skiing in the morning and be back in the afternoon. We've also heard that the [route] design is easier to understand as far as where you need to catch the bus."

Chestnut said UTA is working with ski resorts to find ways to get buses in and out of resort parking lots faster.

The agency is also working with the Utah Department of Transportation on ways to decrease the time buses spend waiting in canyon traffic.

Lorin Simpson, regional general manager of UTA's Salt Lake Business Unit, said UTA is aware of rider concerns regarding crowded buses and will continue to look for ways to accommodate the growing number of skiers and snowboarders taking the bus.

Ski bus service is scheduled to end April 8.