Glacier Park looking at alternative-fuel shuttles

WEST GLACIER, Mont. – Propane-fueled and hybrid electric bus shuttles are being tested in Glacier National Park as part of plans to rebuild the Going-to-the-Sun Road.

The buses hit the road this week and could be the first of an eventual fleet of alternative-fuel shuttles, officials said Friday.

A parkwide shuttle system has been talked about for years, but the idea took on real meaning when officials began moving forward with plans to rebuild the road across the Continental Divide.

Engineers say the aging alpine route is in danger of failing, with portions of it possibly falling down cliffs.

Part of the reconstruction money is to be aimed at a public shuttle system, separate from the guided tour buses that now ply the precipitous Sun Road.

The propane bus will be in the park through the fall, while the electric shuttle is here for just one week, park officials said.

Both are considered candidates for the shuttle system anticipated for Glacier during and after the roadwork.

The prototype vehicles drew extra attention because the Western Association of State Highway Transportation Officials was holding its annual conference in Kalispell, and the nonprofit National Academy of Science’s Transportation Research Board was gathered in West Glacier for a meeting of its national parks and public lands committee.

When in place, the envisioned shuttle service would offer tourists the option of leaving their cars and climbing the heights in National Park Service buses. The idea, officials said, is to keep tourists moving, rather than leaving them stuck in construction zones.

The buses will move people, cutting down on congestion, emissions and parking problems, but will not replace the current tour guide services.

“Transit-shuttle systems are inherently different than tour services,” Superintendent Mick Holm said. “Transit systems provide an optional, alternative means to move people from one location to the next; shuttles are not intended to provide an interpreted experience.”

Holm said he intends for the shuttle service to be operating before the reconstruction project begins.