Park, county consider bus plan

A possible partnership between Flathead County and Glacier National Park could result in expanded bus service for Eagle Transit.

The opportunity involves a public-transportation system that the park hopes to have in place by summer 2007, when reconstruction efforts on Going-to-the-Sun Road kick into high gear.

The service, which would involve as many as 18 buses, is intended to make the visitor experience more enjoyable by cutting down on traffic and reducing construction delays during the eight to 10 years required to rehabilitate the road.

Use of the buses would be voluntary. They would travel back and forth between Apgar and St. Mary during the summer, with multiple stops along the way.

This new transportation system would not replace the historic red buses or other tour operations.

During the past several months, park and county officials have discussed the possibility of Eagle Transit operating and maintaining the service. If that happens, some of the buses might be available for use across the valley in the off-season.

Eagle Transit Director Cheryl Talley cautioned that no specific proposal is on the table.

However, the county commissioners sent a formal letter of interest to Park Superintendent Mick Holm on Monday, saying they'd like to explore this potential partnership in more detail.

"The park wants to put in a bus service as part of its traffic mitigation during the Sun Road reconstruction," Talley said. "They're interested in having someone else operate and maintain the system. We would be a logical entity to do that."

Eagle Transit operates a bus service across the valley floor.

The system primarily is used by students, senior citizens and people with disabilities. However, Talley said it's ready to become a more general public-transportation service.

"With the amount of growth the valley is having, we're poised to go to that next level of public transportation," she said. A partnership with the park "might be the key to helping us get there."

If the park buses were available in the off-season, it could enable Eagle Transit to offer additional routes and more frequent service, helping make it more attractive to the general public.

Multiple issues still need to be worked out before the county or park could enter into a contract, Talley said. Other entities also have expressed interest in running at least a portion of the park's bus service, including the Blackfeet tribe and the University of Montana.

"The park needs to decide what they really want, then we can look at that and see if we can put together an operating plan that takes care of their needs," she said. "We also need to look at the benefit to Flathead County."

Those benefits could be fairly substantial, though, over and above the potential expansion to Eagle Transit's service routes.

For example, contract revenue from this partnership could be used as a match for federal transportation funding - effectively doubling its financial effect.

Park officials have indicated that it could cost more than $500,000 a year to operate the Sun Road bus service, Talley said. In the unlikely event that all of that money came to Eagle Transit, it could be used to garner an additional $500,000 in federal matching funds.

By comparison, the agency currently receives $190,000 a year in federal transportation funding.

"We see a lot of advantages to this," Talley said.

Glacier Park recently announced that it plans to pay for the transportation system through a $5 increase in entrance fees. The increase takes effect in May.

People who decide to use the buses won't have to pay an additional fee.

Park spokeswoman Amy Vanderbilt said the buses would have the capacity to transport as many as 2,200 people a day. The goal is to reduce overall traffic by 10 percent to 20 percent.

Plans call for an unstaffed transit center to be built near the T-intersection in Apgar, just past the West Glacier entrance station. People would park there and catch the bus.

The location of the St. Mary transit center is still being evaluated. Depending on what type of buses are used, a transfer station also could be at Logan Pass, for people who want to travel the full length of Sun Road.

Bid specifications for the buses need to be finalized by February, Vanderbilt said.

Reporter Bill Spence may be reached at 758-4459 or by e-mail at bspence@dailyinterlake.com.