White River National Forest Maroon Bells Scenic Area Shuttle Staging Study Report

2019Final report; Jul 2017- Nov 2019PDFTech ReportDOT-VNTSC-USDA-20-01VXU5VXP8TrailsShuttle serviceEnvironmental protectionCongestion management systemsTransportation planningForestsCapacity studyhigh usevisitationtransportation managementColoradoJohn A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (U.S.)Rasmussen, BenjaminCrayton, TravisPetrella, MargaretCalley, ChrisJohn A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (U.S.)United States. Forest ServiceVolpe National Transportation Systems Center, Technical Reference Centerhe Maroon Bells Scenic Area (MBSA) is characterized by 14,000-foot mountain peaks and scenic alpine lakes and forests. Summer visitation tothe MBSA continues to increase despite increasing costs and congestion to access the site. The only way to access the MBSA during daytimesummer hours is via a shuttle. During peak times, the parking deck where the shuttle originates becomes congested and cars queue on the road as they wait to park. During these times, the shuttles are caught in the queue and visitors must wait longer for a shuttle to pick them up and disembark. A stakeholder group has been meeting for several years to address congestion and safety concerns in and around the parkingdeck. The group asked the Volpe Center to initiate a study to determine how to effectively address these concerns in future years. This reportsummarizes and analyzes data from several sources and concludes with recommendations for future operations of the shuttle.88