More Front Range skiers and snowboarders may be opting to pile in to the car with family in friends rather than making the drive to the slopes alone, recent data indicates.

Now they also have the option of skipping the traffic headache all together and taking the bus.

A decrease in traffic volumes through Eisenhower Tunnel in December coincided with a reported 10 percent increase in participation in carpooling incentive programs at Breckenridge Ski Resort this season.

The number of vehicles to pass through the tunnel eastbound on Sundays dropped every weekend in December but one from the same time frame last year.

Drivers heading back to the Front Range the first Sunday in December dropped from more than 18,500 in 2010 to slightly more than 16,000 the same weekend in 2011. The number of returning vehicles recorded at the tunnel dropped by almost 3,000 the following weekend.

Part of the decrease can likely be blamed on the weather. A scarcity of snow this season may have discouraged many would-be visitors from making the trek up the hill. Vail Resorts reported a 15 percent decrease in skier visits year-to-date from last year and executives said season pass holders aren't using them as frequently as they were last season.

But the decrease in traffic on I-70 also comes as programs at local resorts rewarding carpooling gain popularity.

“We started our carpooling incentive a few years ago and have seen very positive results,” Breckenridge spokeswoman Kristen Petitt said. “It is important for us to both have incentives and promote carpooling as it is a win-win for everyone.

It's something local officials and resorts have tried to encourage.

Breckenridge offers a $5 discount on gondola-lot parking fees for cars with four or more passengers, while Keystone Resort gives priority parking to high-occupancy vehicles.

So are more Front Range skiers and snowboarders opting to drive together to save money on gas? Because it's more environmentally friendly? Because it's just more fun than making the trip alone?

“Yes, yes and yes,” said Colorado Springs resident Rob Dietz in an online comment.

Taking the bus

While more skiers and snowboarders look to carpool to the slopes, two shuttle businesses have also sprung up on the Front Range this season. The Front Range Ski Bus and the Denver Ski Bus offer rides from various pick up locations in the metro area to the ski areas in Summit County.

“This was one of our ideas to help … make skiing better, especially Friday nights and Sunday afternoons,” Denver Ski Bus owner Curt Spencer said of the fledgling business. “We were just trying to figure out a way to get people up into the mountains and help alleviate those retarded traffic jams.”

The Denver Ski Bus picks up in Boulder and at the public Wooly Mammoth Park-and-Ride in Morrison and takes skiers and snowboarders to Winter Park and Copper Mountain for $38 round trip.

The Front Range Ski Bus runs from downtown Denver and the park-and-ride to Loveland, Arapahoe Basin Ski Area and Keystone for $39.

More information on the new transit services is available online at front

rangeskibus.com and denskibus.com.



The Associated Press contributed to the reporting of this story.