Transportation planning and social carrying capacity in the national parks

William Valliere; Robert Manning; Megha Budruk; Steven Lawson; Benjamin Wang

Treesearch

Transportation planning and social carrying capacity in the national parks

Informally Refereed

Authors:

William Valliere, Robert Manning, Megha Budruk, Steven Lawson, Benjamin Wang

Year:

2002

Type:

General Technical Report

Station:

Northern Research Station

Source:

In: Todd, Sharon, comp., ed. 2002. Proceedings of the 2001 Northeastern Recreation Research Symposium. Gen. Tech. Rep. NE-289. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Research Station. 36-39.

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Abstract

The U.S. national park system accommodates nearly 300 million visits annually. Most visitors come to the national parks in automobiles, and this poses several management challenges. Delays at national park entrances caused by traffic congestion detract from the visitor experience. Inadequate parking facilities further compromise the visitor experience and lead people to park along roadsides, damaging park resources and causing traffic hazards. At times, visitors must be turned away from some national park areas because transportation infrastructure is not sufficient to meet visitor demand.

Parent Publication

Proceedings of the 2001 Northeastern Recreation Research Symposium

Citation

Valliere, William; Manning, Robert; Budruk, Megha; Lawson, Steven; Wang, Benjamin. 2002. Transportation planning and social carrying capacity in the national parks. In: Todd, Sharon, comp., ed. 2002. Proceedings of the 2001 Northeastern Recreation Research Symposium. Gen. Tech. Rep. NE-289. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Research Station. 36-39.