Shuttle bus at Weeping Rock, Zion National Park, Utah.
Back to Chapter 7: New Horizons
Environmental impacts from snowmobiles scrutinized
By Holly Sharpless
Applying new technology to mitigate acid mine drainage in the Northeast
By Kathleen Kodish Reeder
Geoindicators: A tool for monitoring and understanding ecosystem change in parks
By Bob Higgins and Jim Wood
Implementing the National Parks Omnibus Management Act of 1998
By Carol McCoy
Prudential algebra
By Glenn Haas
The unprecedented 2000 fire season
By Tom Zimmerman
EPA asked to restore and protect air quality in parks
Geologic Resources summit held
Utah parks water rights agreements signed
Award-Winner Profile - Redwood superintendent receives award
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The Zion Canyon Transportation System kicked off with a grand opening on 26 May 2000. The mandatory shuttle system, required for motorized travel up the 6-mile scenic Zion Canyon, exceeded all expectations for its inaugural year. The 2000 operational period continued until 29 October, during which time more than 1.5 million passengers boarded the system. Each full shuttle bus, carrying 66 people, replaced 25 cars that previously would have clogged the canyon. Ninety percent of all visitor comments received were positive. In addition, resource benefits in the canyon included a return to a more natural sound environment, restoration of roadside vegetation, an increase in wildlife sightings, and improvement in the area’s air quality. Shuttle operation for 2001 will start up again on 1 April, with the hope to extend the operational period later in autumn. An integral element of the transportation system is the new 10,000-square-foot Zion Canyon Visitor Center complex, which was designed by the National Park Service and the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Sustainability was a key element in the design of the complex, which incorporates the area’s natural features and energy-efficient concepts. It also uses daylighting strategies, photovoltaics, an advanced energy management system, passive downdraft cooling towers, Trombe walls for solar heating, energy-efficient landscaping, and other green systems. In its first year of operation the new visitor center consumed 80 percent less energy than a standard building of its size. In December 2000 the visitor center received an award from the journal Energy User News under the public spaces category in the 2000 Efficient Building Awards Program. |
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This material is from Natural Resource Year in Review--2000, published by the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, in May 2000 (publication D-1459)
/YearInReview/yir/yir2000/pages/07_new_horizons/07_08_sidebar_zion_bus.html
Last Updated: 06/17/2001
Direct comments on this website to jeff_selleck@nps.gov