How time flies. It has now been a year since the city of Palm Springs launched The Buzz and, thankfully, the city council has approved the service for another year.
Now the shuttle does have it’s issues (weird, unnecessary promotions, some of the buses are kind of old, and one leg of the route makes absolutely no fucking sense at all), but, for the most part, the free shuttle has been a rad service for visitors and locals alike.
Tourists who are here to relax benefit by not having to worry about driving to get around Palm Springs – of course, this also benefits the locals who already have more than enough snowbirds on the roads doing God knows what. Businesses benefit as customers have an easier way to get around to their restaurants, shops, bars, or whatever they are selling – and hey, less money that people put in their car’s gas tank is more money they can spend.
The service also does something that it does not get nearly enough credit for: save lives. While DUI checkpoints exist in order to catch a drunk driver after they have gotten behind the wheel, shuttles like The Buzz offer an alternative to driving ensuring that the intoxicated person doesn’t get behind the wheel at all.
The Buzz is a great service and other Coachella Valley cities should offer the service to their visitors and residents just like Palm Springs does. I would say that maybe they could all work together on something, but we all know how that goes.
