It’s no secret that Killington Resort, Vt., is known for its abundant nightlife. Scattered along the five-mile Killington access road are quaint pubs, eclectic restaurants, bars and nightclubs that host live music for the urban and suburban crowd visiting the resort. More than 100 places to eat, drink and dance exist in the Killington region alone.
As a result, Killington has—as each of those individual business have— often walked a fine line between allowing guests to fully enjoy the area’s nightlife and ensuring that they find their way home to bed at the end of the night. Though drinking and driving were always a top concern, over the past few seasons, many local proprietors started seeing state and local law enforcement stepping up efforts to combat drunken driving with roadblocks.
The resort saw an opportunity to cut back on the roadblocks, help police save time and money, and keep guests safe and out of jail. There would also be the unintended public relations benefit gained from the successful program.
In the fall of 2000, Killington took the lead in forming the Safe Streets Task Force, a group comprising local business owners, local and state law enforcement representatives, the state Department of Liquor Control, Farrell Distributing (a regional beverage distributor) and Anheuser-Busch. The task force set out to address drinking and driving issues surrounding the resort and find a way to ensure that guests could safely enjoy the wide variety of entertainment options.
“We felt that if this important issue was left unaddressed, it would have a negative effect on the resort’s and region’s economy,” says Allen Wilson, president of Killington and the resort’s representative on the task force. “It was the task force’s goal to create a safe environment where guests would enjoy themselves to the fullest.”
The task force began meeting weekly and created a marketing plan with an educational element that showed skiers and riders how to enjoy Killington responsibly. The core message continues to focus on the “easiest way” to get home—via public transportation—as opposed to the “hard way” with the State Police and a DUI charge.
“We knew it was critical to have buy-in on this from all of our community members,” says Wilson, “as well as distributors and national providers like Anheuser-Busch. When the law-enforcement teams wanted to be involved, we knew we had a unique situation. We were all working toward the same goal.”
The Safe Streets Task Force created a number of programs to increase awareness and offer safe rides to guests. These include an expanded bus schedule that operates into the wee hours during the ski season, a plan that awards free taxi rides back to local watering holes the next day to retrieve cars abandoned in favor of the taxi at the end of the night and prizes for designated drivers.
The Bus, as it is called, is the most widely available option for guests. For a $1 fare, evening revelers can get transportation to local points of interest from most lodges and hotels in the area. More than 7,500 complimentary tickets and schedules were printed and distributed to guests last season as an introduction. Killington anticipates additional free passes this coming season.
“Some clubs like the Pickle Barrel have taken this one step further and provide free transportation for guests at the end of the night,” says Wilson.
Chris Karr, owner of the popular Pickle Barrel Nightclub, created The Barrel Rider during the 2000-2001 season as a shuttle service for his patrons. The seven-passenger mini-van is used to transport patrons to and from the club at no charge. Karr sees this effort as a sensible way to provide customers with a safe, quality experience and ensures they will be around to come back.
On top of the new ways for getting around after dark, the task force produced educational videos that air around-the-clock on the local RSN affiliate, Channel 14-Killington Television; and posters, coasters, brochures and placemats are continually distributed throughout the region to communicate the presence of alternatives.
According to Wilson, a similar plan is fairly easy to put in place just about anywhere, regardless of resort size. He says the hardest part is for the resort to take the initiative and spend the time and effort to get support from the community and law enforcement agencies.
And, as long as you can get a national distributor involved (many have money budgeted for such educational efforts), there is very little actual cost to the resort. Farrell Distributing and Anheuser-Busch contribute money to pay for producing the marketing materials and reimbursing the taxi program.
According to members of the task force, driving under the influence has dropped considerably in the first season. Though no hard numbers have been kept by police departments, “It’s nearly impossible to spot an incident of drinking and driving now,” one officer noted. “They’ve significantly diminished.”
