The Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — When the clock strikes midnight on New Year's Eve, 20 taxis will start their engines. A fleet of 10 extra city buses will hit the streets, and drivers will prepare for the annual swarm of revelers that need a ride home.

"This is the busiest evening of the year," said Bobby O'Toole, director of operations for Alpine Taxi. The company will have 20 drivers on the road and will operate two dispatch channels.

"The key to the evening is to see the humor in it," O'Toole said. "There are so many people trying to go so many different directions, everyone needs to realize there are only so many ways to get there."

The only public transportation available New Year's Eve is Alpine Taxi and free city buses.

"We're doing the best we can, but New Year's Day is also extremely busy for us," O'Toole said.

Alpine Taxi does not accept reservations for after midnight. The key to making sure you can get a taxi is to call at least a half hour to 45 minutes in advance, O'Toole said.

It's also important to be outside and waiting for the taxi when it arrives. If the driver pulls up and hears that the person who called is in the back of the bar playing pool, "we go on to the next person that's ready," O'Toole said.

On any other night, Steamboat Springs Transit runs two buses after midnight. On New Year's Eve, it will run 12 to accommodate 10,000 expected riders. (On an average winter night, buses carry 5,000 passengers.)

Instead of a regular schedule, the key is to send supervisors to such traffic spots as the Gondola Transit Center and downtown. When a crowd builds, the supervisor calls for a bus, said Jonathan Flint, operations manager.

Buses run until 2 a.m. when the last bus departs the mountain for downtown.

Flint's best advice is to dress for a wait in the weather.

"It's usually a little warmer when people go to an event than when they come out later that night," Flint said. "I always feel sorry for people in their nice clothes and their light sports coats."