Final Arches Transportation Feasibilty Study_May 2012

Arches National Park preserves over 2,000 natural sandstone arches, including the internationally renowned Delicate Arch, in a setting unlike any other in the world. At Arches, a visitor can get an upclose, personal experience of these extraordinary rock formations set against dramatic colorful vistas. This accessibility has attracted thousands of visitors from around the world; annual visitation was over one million in 2011. In recent years, this high visitation rate during the peak season has far exceeded the park's automobile capacity which has caused severe parking and traffic congestion, degrading visitor experience and impacting park resources.

As part of its long-term transportation planning efforts, Arches National Park initiated the Alternative Transportation System and Congestion Management Study in 2011 to reduce traffic congestion, air and noise pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and the impacts of transportation on Arches' valuable resources. The study aims to achieve this reduction by decreasing the number of automobiles within the park while maintaining and improving public access and visitor experience. The study includes both a shuttle alternative and non-shuttle alternatives to meet these goals.

This Final Feasibility Study Volume 1 provides a detailed description of the final preferred Arches pilot shuttle system with accompanying congestion management strategies (section 1) as well as two non shuttle alternatives (section 2) that would rely entirely on other congestion management strategies to achieve the park's goals. The report compares the benefits and costs of the shuttle system against those of the congestion-management-only scenario (section 3) and describes the impacts (section 4). Volume 2 contains the referenced appendices A-G.

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Final Arches Transportation Feasibilty Study_May 2012_Vol1   (5.1 MB, PDF file) Final Arches Transportation Feasibilty Study_May 2012_Vol2   (7.6 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.