After taking the bus a few times to the lifts at Breckenridge Ski Resort from the Airport Road lot, using both the red route run by Vail Resorts and the gray route run by the city, I’m trying to figure out how increasing the number of people allowed in these buses is going to make us safer. With these new load numbers, at best you will have one empty seat between you and the next rider, along with people sitting directly across from you, so within a 6-foot circle you may have five other people sharing your breathing space. The time it takes to load and to get to Peak 8 on the red route or Peak 9 on the gray route is at least 20 minutes, which is longer than the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 15-minute guideline for close contact. With most riders wearing bandanas or other noneffective face coverings, how is this safe when new cases in Summit County are out of control?

I find the gray route safer, as the drivers are doing a good job at keeping some of the windows open. The red route has been very hit and miss on COVID-19 safety. The bus I took yesterday was one of their older school buses, which had every window closed, and try as I might, I could not open the two windows closest to me. The driver waited until the bus was at capacity before leaving the lot and, with the heaters blasting on full, seemed more concerned about keeping himself warm than keeping us safe.

I have decided I will be spending most of my time at Keystone Resort, where I can safely walk to the lifts from the parking lot.