An incentive that allows car-poolers to park for free close to the lifts at Arapahoe Basin ski area in  Colorado has proved popular, the resort’s COO Alan Henceroth reports.

A Basin began to offer free parking for cars with at least four people in its ‘prime parking’ area which represents the best positioned 200 spaces in the resorts 1,900 car parking lot.

Mr Henceroth reports that since introducing the offer, 71 percent of vehicles in that area have been free car poolers while 29 percent have paid the $20 parking fee which applies to cars with less than 4 people inside.

“The program has found a good groove,” Henceroth wrote in his blog this week, “filling by about 9ish each Saturday and Sunday. … Many of you suggested we go with three people per car instead of four people per car. We took that feedback very seriously, but still decided to give it a try at four people per car. If four didn’t work, we were going try three. So far, we have not had trouble finding plenty of four-person cars for the lot.”