Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Best Rest Stop? I'll Be The Judge Of That

What do you find desirable in a rest stop? I personally like the ones that have real mirrors instead of those scratched up pieces of metal mounted on the walls, and I really love a rest stop that doesn't have shady characters skulking around. A pet area that's not two miles away is also nice, as is free coffee, which is getting harder and harder to find.

One rest stop in Utah has all of the above, and more. And in recognition, it's been voted the best rest stop in the country. It doesn't look that great. I mean, where's the guy who cleans your windshield for free or a kiosk to look up google maps to make sure you're actually on the right route? Alright, I'm asking too much. Check out the video and give me your opinion, plus let me know what characteristics you judge rest stops on.

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

3 comments:

Philip said...

You really need to sample a few of the rest stops along I-90 in North Dakota to see rest stops done right.

SRTC Staff said...

Thanks for the tip @Philip. I'm trying to get clearance from the boss to do just that. In the meantime, I looked up North Dakota rest stops on the internet and found out that they are indeed known for being clean and well-stocked, plus they're up on technology. They offer free kiosks connected to the Internet. Visitors can find tourist information, weather and road condition reports, and access the internet. Wow, now that's customer service!

vanillajane said...

Rest stops... Hmmm... I like it when there's a stall available, they use that pink sandpaper soap (it makes my skin feel good,) and there's cell phone coverage.

I also like it when they have a map of the state that shows where you are.

One of my favs is the one just before the pass on I90 (heading West) where you can see three mountain peaks and a bunch of windmills.

One thing I HATE is metal seats on toilets. They freeze your butt off. Literally...


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SRTC is the federally designated Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for Spokane County. Urbanized areas with populations exceeding 50,000 people are required to have an MPO. SRTC was formed to address the county's transportation planning needs. It provides coordination in planning between the public, cities, small towns, the county, the state, transit providers, and tribes.

SRTC offers services including transportation monitoring, transportation modeling, census information analysis, travel demand forecasting, historical traffic count analysis, geographic information systems, and trip generation rates.