Yellowstone trying bus for winter excursions

BILLINGS, Mont. — The search for an environmentally friendly snowcoach that will appeal to winter visitors at Yellowstone National Park has officials looking to the past for some inspiration.

A "concept" bus the park is testing offers a resemblance to the yellow buses that carried tourists in the early part of the last century.

But the new bus also could be fitted with special tracks and run in the winter. If tests prove successful, it could become another sightseeing alternative in a park where limits will be imposed on snowmobiles beginning this year.

The goal is to develop an all-season machine attractive enough to lure tourists from RVs and cars that cause traffic jams at wildlife sightings, yet efficient enough to help reduce pollution levels, particularly in the winter.

"We want visitors to enjoy the park," said John Sacklin, Yellowstone’s chief of planning. "But we recognize, as visitation continues to increase, it may be difficult to accommodate all visitors in the traditional ways they have come in to the park."

And, traditionally, they’ve driven. Yellowstone is considered a drive-through park; its five gates offer access to Western towns and wild places in three states and often, park officials say, tourists don’t enter and exit through the same gate.

Of course, in the winter, nearly all routes inside the park are shut down to cars. Snowcoaches are an option during the colder months because they, like snowmobiles, can provide access to popular sites. The hope is that the idea of using mass transportation will also catch on in the warmer months. Officials want to enhance the visitor experience — reducing noise and traffic, offering park information that’s not simply tossed in the backseat — by offering shuttles to high-traffic tourist stops or hiking hotspots in small buses that can be powered by cleaner-burning alternative fuels, such as propane or ethanol blends.

Officials also want the bus to have a specific look and feel to entice some of the park’s nearly 3 million annual visitors from their vehicles, for at least part of their trips. The design of the concept bus tested this summer calls to mind the touring buses that park officials say ran in Yellowstone until the 1950s.

The concept bus featured a rollback top and TV screen that could be used to display wildlife photos, park highlights being discussed by an interpreter or, perhaps, local accommodations, said Dick Rief, vice president of marketing and sales for Heart International, which is involved in the development and eventual manufacturing of the buses. It was also handicap-accessible with room for 15 or so people.

"We took styling cues from the old yellow bus, which had a convertible top," he said. "We wanted it to look friendly, to have that nostalgic appeal, so people would want to get in."

The concept bus was brought into the park for the first time this summer, but mostly just for show. Comments from riders were largely positive, he said, though "minor" changes are still likely.

This winter, park officials expect to test the concept bus with the winter tracks attached to see how it performs and whether visitors like it. If all goes well, they could have one or more final versions of the all-season $100,000 bus working by next summer.

Park officials say a new-generation snowcoach is an important piece of the region’s winter use plan, which aims to ease noise, pollution and adverse effects on wildlife and human health, particularly of park employees at Yellowstone’s congested west gate.

Snowmobiles have been allowed in the park for 40 years and snowcoaches for 48, Sacklin said. If all goes well, the bus on tracks could become a new-style snowcoach, Sacklin said.

"When I look at the future, I see there will be significant differences in the way the park operates in the winter," he said. "Snowmobiles and snowcoaches will be dramatically cleaner and quieter than those we’ve been used to over the last 10 years, and that will be huge."

Sacklin believes that, if done correctly, the bus could bring new tourists to the area or keep others around a bit longer.

"Often, when people think of getting on a bus, it is simply looked at as a means of getting from one place to another," he said. "With tour guides on the bus, we would have the vehicle really be a part of the experience."

National Park Service officials say alternative transportation such as shuttles and trains has been successful in parks.

In Acadia National Park, for example, more than 1 million riders have taken a bus in the five years since a system was implemented, deputy superintendent Len Bobinchock said.

The fleet of propane-powered buses run between the park and local communities on the coast of Maine. It has helped ease traffic a bit, but Bobinchock said he’d like to have the program expanded if funds were available.

The idea of partnerships as a way to share costs and benefits has been discussed some among Yellowstone and Grand Teton and nearby towns.

Cam Hugie, Grand Teton’s chief of professional services, said the park would like to work with the town of Jackson, Wyo., and Teton County on a possible, future transit arrangement. Park officials expect to have a draft of Grand Teton’s transit plan by November, he said.

"We’re trying to be proactive and look down the road," Hugie said.

Back at Yellowstone, Sacklin said the buses, though not meant to replace other vehicles, could help change the way the park and region are seen — and understood.

"Providing alternative options for people to tour the park, to see features or sights they otherwise may not be able to, makes sense to us," he said.