Empire Express

Park City, UT, February 02, 2018 --(PR.com)-- Downtowner, a transportation technology company, recently deployed their operations and technology to run the Empire Pass courtesy shuttle service in Park City, Utah. The on-demand ride service is provided to homeowners and guests of the Empire Pass community, which is located adjacent to Deer Valley Resort.

The nearly 600 riders per day have expressed their enthusiasm for the upgraded service, with 96 percent rating their experience a 5 out of 5. Riders are given the opportunity to rate their experience after each ride, just one of the many performance metrics now being provided to Empire Pass management. Importantly, over 81% of rides are already being requested via the Empire Express app and auto-dispatched by Downtowner’s ridesharing technology. The remaining 19% of rides are passengers calling the dispatch number, which is still being provided during the transition. Moving from a traditional call in service to an app based service was something that management of the Empire Pass community has long been interested in implementing. A more data driven approach has not only helped provide riders with an average wait time of 7 minutes, but is also crucial in increasing efficiency in the operation.

During its first month of taking over the service, Downtowner moved more than 18,000 passengers. Most riders were dropped off in downtown Park City, the Deer Valley Resort or the bottom of the Silver Strike Express lift.

Empire Pass transit director, Trish Waterman, said, “Our owners have already expressed overwhelming support for the new app and provider, feeling an increase in the level of service. And, we’re excited as m anagement about the metrics and data that can now be accessed. This information will help us provide a higher quality service, and operate as efficiently as possible.”

Downtowner’s on-site operations manager, Julian Lena, was particularly delighted by the smooth transition and rapid uptake of the Empire Express app, citing that over 1,000 home owners and guests of the community are already using it to get around town. “We were able to hire many of the drivers that were affected by the All Resort Group bankruptcy. The drivers say that operations are running smoother than ever, even though we’ve only been operating for a little over a month. We intend to constantly improve our service level in the months ahead.”

Downtowner is operating as many at 12 sprinter vans, which are scheduled to be online throughout the day based on ridership demand trends.