Regional Transportation System Usage Analysis for National Parks in Colorado

In conjunction with the regional long-range transportation plan (LRTP) update, mobile device data collection technology was piloted to understand visitor use and travel patterns to, through and within Colorado national parks. This data supports LRTP strategies in the visitor experience and mobility, access, and connectivity goals. Staff from the region, Denver Service Center, Washington Support Office, Volpe Center, and Colorado Department of Transportation were engaged throughout the project.

The final report provides an overview of the data collection plan, data evaluation plan, geographies selected, and data vendor selection. Eleven out of the thirteen national parks in Colorado have a profile spread that includes data on total weekday v weekend visitation, when visitors are coming, who is coming (resident of Colorado or non-resident), travel speeds, dwell times, top five gateways and top five internal destinations. For the two parks without a profile spread, there weren't enough observed trips within the park boundaries to analyze. Rocky Mountain National Park is featured for a deeper dive analysis on internal and external travel. The study concludes with an overview of potential data applications: traffic assessment and monitoring; parking demand assessment and management; regional transportation planning; visitor use and travel patterns; and community connections, economic development, and tourism.

Document Content:

NPS_RTSUA_Colorado_final_report_508.pdf   (62.0 MB, PDF file) Disclaimer: Links within the above document(s) were valid as of the date published. Note: Some of the files may be in PDF format and can be viewed using the Adobe Acrobat Reader software. You may download a free copy of from Adobe Systems.