Zion's Old Shuttles and There's No Money To Replace Them

Above, a shuttle bus comes into view as I was photographing The Watchman. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Zion National Park in Utah has shuttles available for park visitors to use and to keep the canyon unclogged from cars.

It is unknown how long the shuttles will be available. They are at least 20 years old and the park desperately needs to replace them.

According to the Associated Press:

ST. GEORGE, Utah (AP) — Every day, packed shuttles chug through Zion National Park carrying thousands of hikers, bikers, tourists and locals into the country’s third most visited National Park.

The nearly 40 buses they have on hand have carried passengers since 2000, and haven’t been replaced since, much to the dismay of visitors and park officials alike, the Spectrum newspaper reports.

Between the upkeep and many repairs, 79% of all park entrance fees go toward just keeping the shuttles running, totaling to about $5 million a year. Though, new estimates suggest that number is nearing closer to 65%.

These buses are not even manufactured anymore, forcing the rangers to cannibalize broken down buses for parts, or even buy them off of eBay.

Not to mention the noise and emissions caused by running that many propane buses up and down a scenic, serene canyon, which disturbs wildlife.

Zion is not ignorant of these problems. They’ve been desperately trying to secure federal funding to replace the shuttles since 2017.

But Zion has been repeatedly denied this urgent funding by the U.S. Department of Transportation, and Zion’s partners don’t know why.

To read more, go here.