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Essay On Shuttle Services

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Shuttle Services in the National Park System In 2016, 330,971,689 visited the fifty-eight national parks, containing over eighty million acres of public land, within the United States for outdoor recreation. (“Frequently Asked Questions (U.S. National Park Service). With this large influx of visitors, there are some major negative impacts to the delicate ecosystems in each park. After visiting seven of our National Parks and seeing the mass amounts of people and traffic on public lands, I wondered how this newly popular “ecotourism” affects the surrounding pristine environments of the National Parks. After investigating these impacts and finding the largest impact is caused by cars driving throughout the park, shuttle services are the …show more content…

According to a study done by the National Park Service, there is estimated to be well over ten thousand vehicular wildlife collisions over a recent eighteen-year time period. With a more anthropogenic viewpoint, less open space for parking, congested trails, and the inability to leisurely drive through many of the national park system’s scenic routes due to traffic are just a few inconveniences to the visitor’s experience. There are many ways to combat these negative implications of the increased outdoor tourism. A few proposed solutions to these impacts are to set a cap on attendance at each park, implementation of more trash and recycling bins throughout the parks and trails, and more education for visitors to the parks on land use ethics like leave no trace. Overall, the most effective solution to combat these negative effects is a shuttle service throughout the park. “. Transit services (e.g., public bus service) are a component of the overall park transportation system and are very desirable in park settings as they yield many advantages over personal auto access including reduced congestion in parking areas, a reduced carbon footprint, and an enhanced visitor experience.” (Monz. et al.) Shuttle services decrease traffic throughout the park’s roads, opening up parking space and overall reducing congestion. In a study done by the Park and Recreation administration in 2011, visitors in Yosemite National Park rated the ability to use alternative

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