Demand for park shuttle services––a stated-preference approach Yoram Shiftan a, * , Donald Vary a,1 , Dorothy Geyer b,2 a Cambridge Systematics, Inc., 4445 Willard Avenue, Suite 300, Chevy Chase, MD 20815, United States b Colonial National Historical Park, P.O. Box 210, Yorktown, VA 23690, United States Abstract This paper shows the potential of various shuttle bus services in Colonial National Historical Park in Virginia to reduce auto use on park roads. The purpose of these services would be to provide new opportunities in presenting the parkÕs history, relieve visitors of the burden of finding their way, and possibly reduce roadway maintenance and environmental impacts. This study uses a stated- preference survey and discrete choice model to quantify the effect of various service characteristics on visitorsÕ mode choice and on reducing car travel in the parks. Ó 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Shuttle bus; National park; Auto use; Stated preference; Mode choice; Discrete choice 1. Introduction The United States National Park Service received 300 million visitors at its 380 sites in 2000 (Turnbull, 2003). As the number of visitors at national parks continue to increase, traffic congestion, vehicle-generated noise and air pollution, deteriorating roadways, and wildlife deg- radation are challenges which must be faced. The Na- tional Park Service, working with the US Department of Transportation, is deploying several innovative strat- egies to ensure that the ever-increasing number of park visitors can opt for modes that are convenient and envi- ronmentally friendly. Such initiatives have been explored and implemented in parks across the US. In the Yosemite National Park in California, a visitor shuttle bus system was intro- duced and various transportation initiatives have been evaluated for future development and implementation (Fay, 1999). In an effort to address congestion in Zion National Park, shuttle buses were introduced together with ban on private vehicles from the scenic drive that dead-ends in the parkÕs main canyon (Karaszewski, 1999; Retzlaff, 2000). Public reaction to the new system has been favorable and the decrease in the noise level has made wildlife more visible. Denali National Park in Alaska bans private automobiles, and uses shuttle buses to transport visitors. The Grand Canyon Park has plans for a transit system that would combine light rail, alternative-fuel buses, and multi-use greenway trails. Golden Gate National Recreation Area north of San Francisco, California, uses open-air electric trams to transport visitors, and Acadia National Park on the Maine coast began a voluntary bus system in June 1999. A few studies have documented significant shuttle bus ridership in selected national parks. In Acadia Na- tional Park shuttle riders increased 75% from 1999 to 2001. A visitor survey for Acadia showed that 48% would ride a free shuttle but only 25% would ride if a fee was charged when boarding (Cambridge Systemat- ics, 2002). 0966-6923/$ - see front matter Ó 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2004.12.005 * Corresponding author. Permanent address: Transportation Re- search Institute, Technion, Technion City, Haifa 32000, Israel. Tel.: +972 4 8292381; fax: +972 4 8225716. E-mail addresses: shiftan@tx.technion.ac.il (Y. Shiftan), dvary@ camsys.com (D. Vary), dorothy_geyer@nps.gov (D. Geyer). 1 Tel.: +1 301 347 0100; fax: +1 301 347 0101. 2 Tel.: +1 757 898 2433; fax: +1 757 898 7856. www.elsevier.com/locate/jtrangeo Journal of Transport Geography 14 (2006) 52–59