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As a Garden of the Gods shuttle bus arrives at
the stop in the Rock Ledge Ranch parking lot, people move up to board. The two
buses being used are leased and operated by Adventures Out West, a touring
contractor for the Garden. The feedback has been positive since the service started
in late May, according to Colorado Springs Parks administration manager Kim
King (see article below). Also, Adventures Out West has been finding that shuttle
riders are "from all over the world," reported company spokesperson Janet
Chappelle. "So many people are surprised to learn this is a city park."
Upbeat report on Garden of Gods shuttle experiment after about a month
A view from inside the shuttle as it pulls up to
the Garden of the Gods Visitor & Nature Center stop shows people waiting to get
on.
Westside Pioneer photo
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A free, optional shuttle service started on an experimental basis in the Garden of the Gods city park at the end of May and will continue daily until early September.
The shuttle fleet consists of two 14-passenger vans, picking up people about every 15 minutes while looping between three locations: Rock Ledge Ranch Historic Site (where a temporary parking lot has been created just south of Gateway Road), the Garden of the Gods Visitor & Nature Center and Juniper Way Loop.
Helping lead the effort is Kim King, Colorado Springs Parks administration manager. The Westside Pioneer asked King the following:
How is the Garden of the Gods shuttle working out? Is there some kind of promotion going on? And how long before a decision is made about making the shuttle permanent and/or expanding it?
A shuttle turnaround with this sign has been
created for the Juniper Way Loop stop at the west end of Gateway Road.
Westside Pioneer photo
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Here is King's e-mailed response:
"As you know, we're piloting the shuttles through the summer. We're gathering data in terms of ridership that will be forwarded to our consultant for analysis. We also have a text survey available for those who want to provide feedback that way. We're also installing additional trail counters and vehicle counters. Anecdotally, we've heard very positive comments from staff and volunteers in the Garden and at the Visitor Center.
"As far as promoting use of the shuttle, we have signage at the pick up/drop off locations. Staff and volunteers provide information as well. We haven't looked at doing true promotional advertising because we only have two shuttles. It's a much different scenario than what we have implemented on Pikes Peak, which is a complete, mandatory program that needed to be promoted as much as possible so visitors would better understand how the trip up the mountain would work this year.
"No decision will be made on whether a shuttle system will be implemented on a more permanent basis until completion of the pilot and a final analysis of the data."
Westside Pioneer article
(Outdoors:
Garden of the Gods)
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