This story was originally published by Reasons to be Cheerful
Beneath red temples of Navajo sandstone, the Virgin River winds through Zion National Park. Nearby, a steady current of people step into a long shuttle line. A bus quietly rolls into the stop, the door opens, 90 people swiftly board. After the bus rolls away, the line continues to lengthen. Another bus arrives five minutes later; the flow resumes.
The buses are part of the new electric shuttle system transforming the visitor experience at Zion. The park first launched its shuttle system in 2000 to address the 2.4 million annual visitors that have since grown to five million. To further reduce traffic and benefit visitors and wildlife, through reduced emissions and noise pollution, Zion transitioned to an all-electric fleet of 30 buses in 2024.
Shuttles are part of the National Park Service’s legacy of adopting innovative public transportation solutions. In 1910 the newly established Glacier National Park used horse carriages to transport 11 passengers per trip, evolving four years later to a fleet of red buses. Today, Glacier still operates 33 vintage red propane shuttles, in service since the mid-1930s, that are considered the oldest touring fleet in the world! Other overcrowding solutions utilized by NPS include peak season reservation and timed entry systems, as seen in Arches and Yosemite. Yosemite also offers a shuttle system, but unlike Zion’s, it is not mandatory.
Prior to the shuttle system, Lisa White, Zion’s transportation manager, recalls the backlog of parking along the sides of the road, resulting in denuded vegetation. “There weren’t a lot of animals in the canyon,” she says. “I personally saw fistfights over parking spaces because it was just so congested.” Shuttles immediately relieved the traffic congestion.
The post In Zion National Park, ‘the Smog Is Gone’ appeared first on Reasons to be Cheerful.
