Glacier shuttle service sees pinch

By CHRIS PETERSON / Hungry Horse News

Folks usuing Glacier National Park's shuttle for hikes better take a close look at the new schedule. The free shuttle used to run to 9:30 at night, but this year, because of escalating costs, that's been trimmed back to 7 p.m.

"We're tightening our budget," Park spokeswoman Amy Vanderbilt said.

Vanderbilt said that it would have cost an additional $300,000 to operate at last year's hours, not including fuel costs. She said last year many drivers had significant overtime to keep up with the 9:30 p.m. time slot. On more than one occasion, they even were at stops later than that. In one instance, a whole bunch of Boys Scouts came off a trailhead and needed a ride back to their vehicles.

The Park obliged.

There have been other changes as well. Last year shuttles ran to Fish Creek. They still do, but on an "on call" basis.

And fuel costs haven't been going down — not by a long stretch. The buses run on biodiesel and the price of fuel is about $4.87 a gallon.

There's another problem as well. Glacier's budget for the buses runs on last year's money. The Park raised the entrance fees to make the bus service free. And last year was a good year for visitors to Park. All told, about 2 million visited.

This year's visitor numbers are down — and that could have an impact on next year's budget, Vanderbilt admits.

May visitation to Glacier was down about 25 percent compared to last year. June numbers aren't available yet — they usually come out about the middle of the next month. But they aren't expected to be strong, either.

Glacier's visitation numbers hinge on weather and the Sun Road being completely open.

And in June, the Sun Road wasn't completely open and the first half of the month was either rainy or snowy or both — a bad sign for a park that needs money to pay for a shuttle service.

The Park could start to charge for the shuttle service, but right now the idea isn't in the forefront.

"It's certainly in the back of people's minds," Vanderbilt said. "But it hasn't been broached yet."

The free shuttle service has proven extremely popular. This year, the service started last Thursday (July 3) and will run through Labor Day.

The first shuttles leave Apgar and St. Mary at 7 a.m. The last shuttles depart Logan Pass at 7 p.m. To get a ride from Fish Creek, call 888-5961.