'Limited success' for summer shuttle to Glacier

The new summer shuttle service between Whitefish and Glacier National Park didn’t quite live up to initial expectations.

Less than 2,000 riders this summer rode the Glacier Express shuttle between downtown Whitefish, Whitefish Mountain Resort and Glacier National Park.

The shuttle provided about 200 riders with transportation to Glacier Park and about 1,700 with a lift to the resort during the months of July and August.

Rick Cunningham, Big Mountain Commercial Association executive director, said the pilot program had less riders than predicted before the service began.

“We had limited success,” Cunningham said. “It’s not the numbers we would have liked to have seen, but we knew it would take time to become established.”

The service is funded by the Big Mountain Commercial Association, the same group that backs the SNOW Bus during winter.

The shuttle service made four round-trips daily from July 1 through Sept. 7. Tickets were $10 round-trip for adults and $5 for children to Glacier. Rides to the resort were free.

The initial budget for the shuttle service was estimated at about $90,000 to $100,000. The shuttle operates at a cost of about $1,000 per day.

Cunningham said the association still has to vote on whether to operate the shuttle next summer, but he believes it’s worth it.

“You can’t make a decision based off of one year,” he said. “It needs to be established before it will become viable.”

Cunningham said about 10 riders per day were shuttled to Glacier Park.

“That’s about half of what we expected,” he said. “But sometimes the number was double compared with the week before.”

He is still analyzing the rider numbers to determine if there is a pattern involved when riders took the shuttle. He also plans to compare the rider numbers to when portions of Glacier Park were closed due to wildfires.

BMCA also will be meeting with Glacier Park officials to see if adjusting the route schedule might increase ridership.

“We want to make this a destination and let people know they can do things without the stress of driving,” Cunningham said.

Cunningham admitted that the shuttle needed more promotion to make visitors and residents aware of it. He said the BMCA, along with the Whitefish Visitor and Convention Bureau and Whitefish Chamber of Commerce, will promote the shuttle service over winter in hopes of increasing ridership next summer.

“People here are not used to using public transportation,” he said. “We want to let people know about its worthiness. We strive to help the community and support the business of the valley.”

Mountain Mall, Whitefish Community Library and Whitefish Mountain Resort served as stops before the shuttle traveled to the Apgar transit center in Glacier Park.