No parking required: New shuttle bus connects Bend, Sunriver and Mt. Bachelor
(Update: Adding video, comments from shuttle bus launch)
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) --The new "Navigate Oregon" luxury shuttle bus is now taking reservations for spring break trips around Central Oregon.
The shuttle is meant to help with parking frustrations at Mt. Bachelor.
"We want to help people get up the mountain if they can't get a parking space. That's the ultimate goal. We want it to be valuable, and we also want it to be a nice experience," said Kristine McConnell, vice president of industry relations for Visit Central Oregon.
Travel Oregon provided a $40,000 match to Visit Central Oregon, in partnership with Northwest Navigator Luxury Coaches, to run the pilot shuttle service.
Visit Central Oregon partnered with hotels as pickup and drop-off locations.
The service will offer two shuttle routes, one from Bend to Mt. Bachelor, with two stops, at Riverhouse on the Deschutes and Best Western Peppertree Inn. The other will be from the SHARC in Sunriver to the resort.
David Lenke, general manager of Riverhouse on the Deschutes, told NewsChannel 21, "We have a lot of guests that come in that take their kids up to the mountain and drop them off and come back down for a day in Bend.
"Now, we can load them up here and know that there's a literally door-to-door service for them to the mountain and back," Lenke said.
Mt. Bachelor is a popular spring break destination.
Joseph Gillis, CEO of Northwest Luxury Coaches, said, "All of these things have come together really quickly, but it was an act of the heart trying to get it done.
"We really enjoyed getting it done, even though it was a ton of work. We're just really excited to see how it takes off and how it works, because it could really change what skiing and things mean around here."
It is $15 each way/$30 round trip to experience this High Desert adventure, using a shuttle bus that can hold up to 35 people, socially distanced, offering free Wi-Fi, onboard entertainment and a restroom.
The Navigate Oregon service will start Saturday, running daily during Oregon's spring break until Sunday, March 28th, then on Saturdays and Sundays only through May 30th.
