Canadian Parks transit

[swimmer_spe]

Many of our parks across Canada, regardless of ownership are under stress from parking at must visit sites. For example, I was at Lake Louis and found out that at 4am, during the summer, it is normal to have the road closed off to Moraine Lake due to the parking lot being full. The same is true with Bruce Peninsula NP, and Sibald PP in ON.

If only there was some method to move people around better.

And then, I hear about the historic Lake Louis Tram.
http://www.trainweb.org/oldtimetrain...el/tramway.htm
Who knew that a NP had a rail trail.
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/cana...ail-to-lookout

And then there is a place like Algonquin PP which you walk and bike along the old rail bed.

I know Banff has Roam. That is a good start. Maybe it could be expanded, and maybe it could pushed a bit more by closing all parking lots outside the towns and resorts, and only allowing buses, run by the park to bring people there. Have it much like a regular transit where you have stops that are scheduled. It could be a fee service that is included with the park pass, which could go up to cover the costs.

When a NP gets 9 million people a non covid year, of which 90% of them are in the summer months, that is not sustainable.

Then there is getting to the parks. Some are near rail lines that if they could be utilized for passenger service, along with an in park transit system, it could mean the end of needing a car in a park.

Transit makes sense in our cities, why not in our parks when there is just as much, if not more people there?

[jamincan]

There is actually a bus service that is now operating out of a number of cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, Edmonton, Halifax) to a fair number of parks. It started in Toronto and has the broadest service there (heading to Killarney, Algonquin and Bruce Peninsula and points in between). I've never personally used the service, though, so I'm not sure how effective or well used it is. It would seem that the expansion outside of Toronto suggests it might be a sustainable business model, though.

https://www.parkbus.ca/destinations

Edit to add:

I just returned from hiking the Coastal Trail in Lake Superior PP, which requires a shuttle to retrieve your car. When I was hiking in the White Mountains in New Hampshire, the AMC operated a limited shuttle service between points in the area, and Franconia Notch State Park operated its own bus service. Both were highly useful and a similar service in Lake Superior PP would be invaluable (though in all honesty, probably not financial sustainable).

[J.OT13]

In the Ottawa area, we have shuttle bus between the ByWard Market and Gatineau Park in the Fall season, with a few stops in Hull on the way. Frequency is quite good at 20-30 minutes.

I'd like to see this service expand to an all-year shuttle.


https://ncc-ccn.gc.ca/places/free-nc...-fall-rhapsody

[lubicon]

Originally Posted by swimmer_spe

Many of our parks across Canada, regardless of ownership are under stress from parking at must visit sites. For example, I was at Lake Louis and found out that at 4am, during the summer, it is normal to have the road closed off to Moraine Lake due to the parking lot being full. The same is true with Bruce Peninsula NP, and Sibald PP in ON.

If only there was some method to move people around better.

And then, I hear about the historic Lake Louis Tram.
http://www.trainweb.org/oldtimetrain...el/tramway.htm
Who knew that a NP had a rail trail.
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/cana...ail-to-lookout

And then there is a place like Algonquin PP which you walk and bike along the old rail bed.

I know Banff has Roam. That is a good start. Maybe it could be expanded, and maybe it could pushed a bit more by closing all parking lots outside the towns and resorts, and only allowing buses, run by the park to bring people there. Have it much like a regular transit where you have stops that are scheduled. It could be a fee service that is included with the park pass, which could go up to cover the costs.

When a NP gets 9 million people a non covid year, of which 90% of them are in the summer months, that is not sustainable.

Then there is getting to the parks. Some are near rail lines that if they could be utilized for passenger service, along with an in park transit system, it could mean the end of needing a car in a park.

Transit makes sense in our cities, why not in our parks when there is just as much, if not more people there?

Roam has routes from Banff to Lake Louise and to Canmore so it already has expanded outside Banff itself. On It is a regional service from Calgary to Banff and that is a good start too, the prices are hard to beat to be honest. Lake Louise has shuttles in the summer from the overflow parking lot along the TCH up to the lake to better move people.

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by jamincan

There is actually a bus service that is now operating out of a number of cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, Edmonton, Halifax) to a fair number of parks. It started in Toronto and has the broadest service there (heading to Killarney, Algonquin and Bruce Peninsula and points in between). I've never personally used the service, though, so I'm not sure how effective or well used it is. It would seem that the expansion outside of Toronto suggests it might be a sustainable business model, though.

https://www.parkbus.ca/destinations

Edit to add:

I just returned from hiking the Coastal Trail in Lake Superior PP, which requires a shuttle to retrieve your car. When I was hiking in the White Mountains in New Hampshire, the AMC operated a limited shuttle service between points in the area, and Franconia Notch State Park operated its own bus service. Both were highly useful and a similar service in Lake Superior PP would be invaluable (though in all honesty, probably not financial sustainable).

I know of Parkbus. It is a good start. However, I am not talking about just getting there. I am talking about regular bus/LRT, etc within the park allowing people to not need to drive anywhere.

Originally Posted by lubicon

Roam has routes from Banff to Lake Louise and to Canmore so it already has expanded outside Banff itself. On It is a regional service from Calgary to Banff and that is a good start too, the prices are hard to beat to be honest. Lake Louise has shuttles in the summer from the overflow parking lot along the TCH up to the lake to better move people.

Yes, these are all good starts. I am just looking at the expansion of these services.