Public transportation for outdoor rec studied
<p>The free shuttle buses and historic Red Buses provide bus service in Glacier National Park, but the Red Buses are for tours and not free, and there is talk of eliminating the shuttle bus system.</p>
A recent study by the Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research at the University of Montana reports a demand exists for public transportation to and from trailheads and river or lake access sites along 10 designated scenic drives in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho.
The 10 national scenic byways were designated by the U.S. Department of Transportation. One byway circles the combined Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park and another winds 400 miles around the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex.
ITRR teamed up with a multistate consortium of transportation managers and coordinators to conduct a four-season survey of ski resorts, outfitters, guides and others in the tourist industry.
The 55-page concept plan, “Buses For Byways,” was published May 30 and covers three regions — northwest Montana, central Idaho and the greater Yellowstone National Park area.
Population in the regions has increased by 29 to 42 percent since 1990, and average visitation to national forests and national parks in the regions is about 18.8 million per year, the report states.
The survey found that about 82 percent of residents and 66 percent of nonresidents have experienced a need for public transportation to and from recreation access points.
About a third of surveyed tourist-related business owners said they were willing to take people who were not customers to an airport, trailhead or river access point.
Scheduling, vehicle availability, liability and return on investment are challenges that must be addressed before a public transportation system can be set up.
Resident and nonresident participants in the survey were asked if they had ever paid anyone to move their vehicle from one access point to another, hitchhiked from one point to another, had to use two vehicles to make a recreational trip feasible, or had to change or cancel plans for a trip because of transportation problems.
Participants were asked about use of personal or rental vehicles, shuttles, public transportation, and charter buses or flights. About a third of residents or nonresidents said they were willing to pay for transportation to a recreation site.
The top six activities where participants indicated a transportation need were hiking, rafting, fishing, skiing or backcountry skiing, touring national parks, or getting to resort accommodations.
The draft plan provides a rough framework on how a tri-state public transportation reservation system could be implemented.
“Someone will need to be the champion of this effort,” the report states. “Without an individual and an organization to support the efforts to move it forward, this idea will not be successful.”
Lead organizations suggested in the report include regional economic development organizations, university faculty, outfitters and guides associations, and Xanterra Parks and Recreation. But the system must be reliable to succeed, the report notes.
“It will only take a few failed attempts by recreationists to give up on using the public transportation option,” the report concludes.
The draft report can be read online at www.yellowstonebusiness.org/programs/top-10-scenic-drives-in-the-northern-rockies. Deadline to comment was June 20.