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Access within our national parks has always been carried out in direct support of the National Park Service (NPS) mission to conserve resources and to provide for their enjoyment in such a way and by such means that leaves the parks unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations. But the success of parks, the automobile, and park roadways has given rise to new problems.

Parks are so popular and so accessible the increasing numbers of automobiles have stretched roadways beyond their limits and in some instances, have put the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists at risk. As a result, the NPS is faced with deteriorating and inadequate infrastructure, including its roads, trails, and transportation systems. Effects can be witnessed in potholed road surfaces, deteriorating bridges, and aging transit and watercraft systems. Visitor parking areas are routinely over capacity with cars, buses, and other vehicles spilling onto roadside shoulders and impacting vegetated areas. The resulting air pollution and other resource degradation, noise, congestion, wasted fuel and frustration experienced by park visitors significantly degrades the visitor experience as well. Unmanaged and uncontrolled, automobile use threatens significant park resources and the ability for visitors to enjoy them. The mission of the NPS is threatened.

From a resource conservation standpoint it is unacceptable, in many cases, to allow for additional resource impacts as a result of more roads and larger parking areas to accommodate more automobiles. Alternative means of transportation must be explored to provide access and a quality visitor experience, without additional adverse impacts to resources. Many parks have used alternative transportation systems (ATS) as a tool to achieve their mission and ultimately the mission of the NPS.

To help cooperatively develop and integrate transportation planning into normal NPS activities, the Department of Interior (DOI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Department of Transportation (DOT) in November 1997. Several demonstration parks were identified in the MOU because of their complex transportation issues. All of the demonstration parks highlight one important issue that has become increasingly significant service-wide; to solve transportation and congestion problems, the NPS must look at these issues holistically, in a regional context, and involving all partners.

Working with our partners, the NPS has also been more successful at understanding and utilizing various surface transportation programs in the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, better known as "TEA-21". These programs under TEA-21 can be used to expand the resources available to the NPS. Since the signing of the MOU and the passage of TEA-21, the National Park Service is actively exploring the use of a variety of transportation modes to accommodate visitors, alleviate congestion, improve the visitor experience, and protect park resources. The Alternative Transportation Program (ATP), re-designated in 2005 as the Transportation Management Program (TMP), was developed by the NPS in 1998 to respond to the growing demand for innovative solutions to complex transportation challenges. The TMP consists of professionals who work in partnership with the Federal Lands Highway Division of the Federal Highway Administration to provide policy guidance, funding, preplanning assistance, and other services related to alternative transportation. Since its inception, the TMP has developed a mission, clear objectives, defined what transportation systems are, and has provided direct management policy guidance.