Date: August 9, 2011
Contact: Kyle Patterson, (970) 586-1363
Rocky Mountain National Park is partnering with the Town of Estes Park, the Federal Highway Administration – Central Lands Highway Division and Colorado Department of Transportation to encourage visitors to ride a shuttle bus. The main goal of this experimental program is to reduce congestion in downtown Estes Park and along Bear Lake Road in the park through "mode shift,” moving visitors out of their cars on to public transit.
The program focuses on the US Highway 36 corridor.There are four changeable message signs informing visitors about the new Park & Ride at the Stanley Park Fairgrounds in Estes Park.One sign is located on Highway 66 near Lyons, one sign is on US 36 near the junction of Highway 66, one sign is prior to the descent in to Estes Valley and the fourth sign is at the turn for the Stanley Park Fairgrounds Park & Ride.These changeable signs also highlight that visitors can board these buses to ride in to the Bear Lake Road corridor in Rocky Mountain National Park.Another important goal is to reduce emissions.
This pilot will run through Labor Day weekend. Surveys are being conducted in Estes Park to evaluate the effectiveness of whether shuttle users were influenced by the signs along the US Highway 36 corridor in deciding whether to take the shuttle, if riding the shuttle was a good experience for them and why others chose not to use the transit system.
