Zion National Park • Utah’s most popular national park is now fully electric — and federal and local officials are amped about it.
They congregated on Wednesday to celebrate the rollout of the latest addition to Zion National Park’s shuttle system — 30 spacious electric vehicles that are much quieter, cleaner and cooler than the 39 aging propane-fueled vehicles they are replacing.
“The new electric buses will reduce exhaust emissions in Zion Canyon,” park transportation manager Lisa White said. “They will also reduce noise, which will improve the park’s natural soundscape and enhance the visitor experience.”
Another amenity the new EV shuttle buses bring to the park is air conditioning, something their propane predecessors lack. That is a welcome addition as climate change warms the park along with the rest of the planet, making summertime highs of 100 degrees or more commonplace in Zion’s main canyon.
95 million and counting
Still, the new electric buses have big tracks to fill or follow. Since the introduction of the park’s shuttle system on Memorial Day in 2000, the propane vehicles have shuttled more than 95 million visitors throughout the park.
“Zion is truly electric, [with] the first all-electric fleet in the National Park Service and one of the first few fully electric fleets in the country …,” said park service Director Chuck Sams, a member of Oregon’s Umatilla Tribe and the first Native American to lead the agency. “I’m especially pleased that this project ties to two of the Biden-Harris administration’s priorities, combating the climate crisis and delivering a world-class visitor experience.”
Replacing the propane shuttles — which have a 10-year lifespan but have lasted 24 years — became critical when the manufacturer quit making them and securing parts became an issue. Their EV replacements cost over $37.1 million, nearly $33.5 million of which came from a Nationally Significant Federal Lands and Tribal Program grant administered by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
In addition, the park service contributed $2.75 million from recreation fees and its Centennial Challenge Program, the latter derived from money generated by park passes sold to senior citizens. The nonprofit National Park Foundation also chipped in with $500,000, and the balance came from Kane and Washington counties, private donors and the Zion National Park Forever Project, Zion’s official nonprofit partner.
All told, Zion’s electric fleet consists of five 40-foot buses that shuttle visitors between Springdale and the park and 25 accordion-type, 60-foot buses that operate inside the park. The smaller buses have 34 seats, five more than the 30-foot propane vehicles, which with their standing capacity can carry 70 passengers. The 60-foot buses have 48 seats and are equipped to handle up to 90 people, according to White.
Aside from air conditioning, White said, the new shuttles have easier access (no stairs) for those with disabilities and sport other amenities such as more doors that will provide passengers with quicker entry to and exit from the vehicles. Moreover, they are whisper-quiet and have zero exhaust emissions.
While the EV shuttles have a long way to go to match the passenger totals tallied by their propane forerunners, they are already off to an auspicious start. Over the Labor Day weekend, nearly 97,000 visitors to Zion boarded the vehicles, according to park officials.
Zion’s free shuttle program has come a long way since 2000, when park officials fretted about whether they could get Americans to part with their automobiles and require them to ride buses.
“The remarks we got from visitors in the very first summer were fantastic,” Zion National Park Superintendent Jeff Bradybaugh recalled. “They said, ‘You have given us back the canyon.’ They said, ‘We can hear the birds sing and the air is fresh.’ No longer were the traffic jams fouling the air, impacting the soundscape, and diminishing the visitor experience.”
Casting Zion in a new role
Since then, the shuttle service has played an integral role in coping with the swarms of visitors to Zion, which now draws nearly 5 million visitors each year, compared to 2.4 million in 2000. Aside from reducing traffic, the new shuttles could cast Zion in a new part: a role model.
“This is going to be a model for the rest of the country,” predicted Robin Carnahan, administrator of the U.S. General Services Administration that assisted Zion in acquiring the new shuttles. “This is the state-of-the-art electric bus fleet in the country. It is going to set a standard for other national parks.”