Zion National Park officials are trying to figure out how to replace their aged fleet of shuttle buses/Kurt Repanshek file
After 19 years driving up and down Zion Canyon, it should be a surprise that the shuttle bus fleet at Zion National Park is beyond its expected life. What also shouldn't be surprising is that replacement parts for the fleet are getting harder to find, and funding to replace the buses is also hard to come by.
"At some point things need to get replaced, so we’re working on that, but it’s a big price tag," Zion Superintendent Jeff Bradybaugh said. "We’re trying to get funding through various grant sources and things like that.”
The fleet of 39 buses has provided a great service the past two decades for the park and its visitors, navigating the tight and narrow two-lane road that runs up Zion Canyon to the final stop at the Temple of Sinawava, where the Virgin River flows out of a slot canyon. It's taken countless private vehicles off the road, shuttled hikers through the canyon, and allowed visitors to sit back and relax while gazing at the towering sandstone cliffs.
While the contractor that manages the fleet for the park has done an incredible job maintaining the buses so far, said Bradybaugh, there's only so much mechanics can do with the well-aged fleet.
"We’re going to start running into problems," the superintendent predicted during a recent phone call. "For example, wheelchair lifts. We’ve discovered because one or two broke down that those lifts are no longer, that particular lift, is no longer manufacturerd. And there’s not replacement parts. So we have to find something else and retrofit.
"The engine on the propane buses is no longer manufactured, and hasn’t been for quite a while," added Bradybaugh. “By law, the manufacturers have to produce replacement parts for a period of time. That perod is now coming to an end, so we’re scrambling around buying up all the replacement engine parts we can find. It’s just time. They’re well beyond their life cycle for the type of bus that we’re talking about. The life cycle is about 12 years. Obivously, we’re six or seven, eight years beyond that."
A new fleet won't come inexpensively. Bradybaugh said current estimates for 29 new buses run close to $23 million, while installing 10 electric shuttle charging stations would add another $1.5 million to the bill.
Comments
The NPS is doing what they can. Ufortunately DOT in their most recent grant announcements did not supply Zion with funds to replace these vehicle. Perhaps leadership in DOI and Utah should spend political capital on this effort rather than ripping up boundaries of national monuments. Let's start governing!
https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/docs/policy-initiativ...
Yeah, that makes sense. We don't have enough money to maintain what we have so lets make the economic burden even bigger.
Then what would you propose as an alternative? All motor vehicles have a practical end of life. It may be possible to constantly retrofit, but unless there's some historic reason to do so such as the Glacier bus fleet, after a while it gets to the point where there will be diminishing returns. What do you do when there are no more spare parts? Is it going to get to the point where they'll have to have custom made replacement parts or just cannabalizing existing buses?
I don't know about you, but in my experience the maintenance requirements of new vehicles are considerably lower than for older ones. A newer vehicle will have a manufacturer's warranty and less downtime. In the end they're going to have to be replaced somewhere down the line. They start showing their age and it can be disappointing seeing the use of aging equipment unless there's something truly setimental about it.
I found this report from 2008, where they were already discussing overhauling the fleet.
https://www.nps.gov/zion/learn/management/upload/ZionTechAnalysis_Chpt6t...
Even back then there were concerns that the manufacturers of propane engines were phasing them out and that they might need replacement in the near future.
As someone who has visited Zion frequently over the last thirty years, both before the shuttle service and after, I think the service is critical to making the visit to Zion canyon enjoyable for most visitors. By the mid-90s, Zion canyon was already a traffic nightmare in peak months. This service should be expanded and moved for the entirety of the park, not just up the canyon.
There is already a planned multi-acre car park in Springdale to facilitate greater use of the shuttle from the west entrance and throughout the park but a bunch of NIMBYs threw a fit at a recent council meeting when it was proposed to transfer land to the park to build it. Hopefully, wiser heads will prevail and the transfer can be made and the lot built so people can enjoy their visit throughout the park, not just up the canyon.
Tazz, there is plenty of empty BLM land south and southeast of Springdale and Rockville that wouldn't have any NIMBY's resisting its use. Problem is distance and the need to build some roads to access it. The idea has been floated many times since the 80's but has never seemed to get off the ground -- funding maybe?
Not expanding Bears Ear/Escalante. I am fine with the shuttles. The unique nature of the canyon makes them paritcularly suitable. I was referencing creating a greater economic burden by expanding the NPS responsibilities. If you don't have the money to maintain your existing home, you don't build on an addition.
Uh no. That's not in the National Park Service budget. On top of that, those are still federal lands and operated under the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management budget. I'd hardly call that anything more than a symbolic addition.
Why are you asking that question in relation to this article on the shuttle buses? It certainly seems like you're criticizing this particular spending.