Need a ride? Check out these transportation options to get you to and from your home, town, the grocery store, the airport and more.
Sun Peaks residents and visitors often need transportation options due to the village’s remote location and chilly temperatures. The options below have you covered.
In-resort shuttle
Sun Peaks Resort LLP (SPR) and Sun Peaks Shuttle have teamed up to offer residents and guests of Sun Peaks a free in-resort shuttle to get passengers to and from their homes, jobs and the village.
The shuttle starts at the Village Day Lodge (VDL) and heads toward the east end of the village before looping back west stopping again at the VDL, along Fairways Dr. and Burfield Dr. respectively. It completes its one hour journey back at the VDL. Each bus stop is marked by a red “Bus Stop” sign.
Each of the six stops are separated by approximately 10 minutes.
The shuttle runs daily Dec. 5 to March 28 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and every evening from Dec. 19 to March 28 from 5 p.m. to 9:50 p.m.
While on the bus, passengers can ride with peace of mind knowing that the bus is disinfected daily with a sanitizing spray, wiped down throughout the day and that the shuttle follows the same guidelines as BC Translink which includes mandatory masks for riders and drivers.
More details can be found on the Sun Peaks Resort website.
Kamloops and Airport shuttles
There are three shuttle services that will offer rides to and from Kamloops this season: Mostly Mental Shuttles, Sun Star Shuttles and TasteFull Excursions.
Mostly Mental Shuttles specializes in transporting Kamloops residents to and from the village for $100 each way, which can be split by up to eight passengers.
“We’ve always concentrated on that (local) side of it. I like having fellow gravity seekers in the van so we can talk about gear and what kind of runs you like,” said owner andoperator Dylan Methot.
Airport drop off and pick up is also available for an extra $25. Rides can be booked via their social media pages or by phone at 250-828-2558.
COVID-19 precautions are in place to keep Methot and his passengers safe which includes physical distancing, mandatory masks, no eating or drinking, no out-of-region guests during the current travel restrictions, contact free payment options and reupholstered seats to make disinfecting the van easier before/after each ride.
“I do all the loading and unloading of gear, I get the door for passengers so that they don’t have to worry about (touching) and of those areas,” said Methot.
Sun Star Shuttles is one of two shuttle operations in Kamloops that typically focus on airport transportation but can accommodate various transportation needs and can be booked over the phone by calling 250-554-8005.
“We’re mostly focused on the airport passengers, but we’re open to everything, grocery shopping options and anything like that,” said Simmerdeep Nijjer, office manager of Sun Star Shuttles.
Airport transport to Sun Peaks costs $99 plus GST for one way (price is subject to reduction depending on the number of passengers). Sun Star Shuttles also offers bus station pick-ups for an extra $25 and private charters for $350.
The private charter option can accommodate up to 25 people in normal circumstances, but at this time space is limited depending on their ability to allow for social distancing.
“We try to not put different social groups together, we have a bigger bus we will use if we have more people. We social distance as much as we can,” Nijjer said.
Other precautions include vehicle sanitization every trip, provided hand sanitizer for passengers, mandatory masks and no seating immediately adjacent to the driver.
TasteFull Excursions also offers airport and bus station pick-ups and charters upon request for Kamloopsians, staff and Sun Peaks residents, but the group must be from a single social bubble.
A minimum of two passengers is necessary to cover the cost of the trip at $40 each. If there is a single rider, they must pay the equivalent of two passengers. Rides can be booked via their website www.tastefullexcursions.ca or by calling 1-844-314-4555.
TasteFull’s precautions include plexiglass shields to separate driver and passengers, mandatory masks, physical distancing, provided hand sanitizer and vehicle disinfection every trip.
“We look forward to being able to service the pent up demand that we know is building for once this pandemic is behind us and we’re going to basically do everything we can to provide services to Sun Peaks,” said Matjee Stamp-Vincent, chief executive officer of TasteFull Excursions.
Ride-hailing service
Kamloops’ only ride hailing service is also available for Sun Peaks guests and residents through the Kabu Ride app which is available on the App store and Google Play store.
A ride between Kamloops and Sun Peaks can cost passengers around $120-$130 each way and depends on the distance between destinations, which Kabu Ride director of communications Martin Van Den Hemel said is competitive with local taxi companies.
“We also have COVID-19 protocols in place, which means all occupants of the vehicle must wear a mask and the vehicle is wiped down before and after every trip and the vehicle is aired out between trips,” Van Den Hemmel added.
Other COVID precautions include a mandatory mask policy, contact free payment through the app, transparent barriers between the driver and rear passengers and it is up to the drivers discretion whether or not the front passenger seat is open to customers.
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