**TRB TASK FORCE ADA40T**

TRANSPORTATION NEEDS OF NATIONAL PARKS AND PUBLIC LANDS

**Task Force Mid-year Meeting**

**Glacier National Park**

# July 21-22, 2004

## Meeting Notes

**1.  Attendees.**

Glacier National Park hosted the mid-year meeting. Susan Law, National
Park Transportation Scholar at Glacier, led the local host team. Agenda
is attached showing names of local presenters who attended. Task Force
members present included the following: Steve Albert, John Daigle, Franz
Gimmler, Laura Loomis, Chuck Manning, Katie Turnbull, Bill Withuhn,
Carol Zimmerman. Friends of the Task Force attending included: Anne
Dunning, Tim Young, Effie Stallsmith, Mike Edgerly, Barney O'Quinn,
Eddie Gonzalez, Frank Corrado.

**2.  Overview of the Mid-year meeting.**

By all measures we had a very successful and productive meeting. The
agenda included a day and a half of discussion of transportation issues
and activities at Glacier and a tour in the Red Buses from West Glacier
to Logan Pass on the Going-to-the-Sun Road. Many members and friends and
their significant others who attended included extra time in their trip
to spend time to enjoy the sights of the Park. And hats off to Chuck and
Barbara Manning, who had a car-less trip that included Amtrak from NY
State to West Glacier and taking "alternate" transportation while at the
Park. The weather was perfect and our local hosts, especially Susan Law,
were very generous with their time in ensuring the success of the
meeting. Thanks are also due to our mid-year meeting planning team led
by Steve Albert.

The meeting also included a business meeting which is detailed below.

**3. Workshop on Visitor Experience**

Carol reported that TRB has approved our proposal for a workshop on
"National Parks and Public Lands: Impact of Transportation on Quality of
Visitor Experience." It will be held on Sunday 8-12 prior to the annual
meeting. Bill Withuhn will lead the workshop planning team consisting of
task force members Laura, Franz, John, and Kevin and friend Anne
Dunning. Details are due to TRB by October.

**4.  Subcommittee Reports**

a\. [Research Subcommittee]{.underline}. Steve led the discussion of
research topics. The following topics were identified and volunteers
agreed to prepare a description:

Demography of parks and implications for transportation: Katie and Laura

Quality of service and performance measures: Laura

Common standards for transportation ecology: Steve

Transportation and interpretation: Anne Dunning (friend)

Interface between rail and public lands: Franz and Bill

Intermodal and multimodal integration: Katie and Anne.

b\. [Outreach]{.underline}. Sean was not able to attend the meeting but
he sent a report which Carol read at the meeting. The report focused on
the results of the questionnaire that Sean distributed to Task Force
members that sought their input on outreach. Only 7 members responded
and only 4 completely, and thus the results are representative of the
entire Task Force (shame on us!). We discussed the recommendations in
the report with the following results:

-   Focus on transit and alternate transportation modes; tourism and
    recreation travel; emerging technologies; environmental and
    socioeconomic relationships. *No disagreement was voiced to these
    topics as the Task Force focus.*

-   Continue the Task Force website, but plan on moving to another
    server eventually. *All agreed that the website could better serve
    as a repository of information, and people need to be made aware
    when new information is posted. A listserv was discussed, but it
    appears that a simple e-mail to let members know about new web
    postings would serve just as well*. *Anne suggested putting
    Transportation Scholar data on a website for access by other
    researchers. While a good idea, there were no ready answers on
    whether the Task Force website was the right repository or whether a
    university or agency website might be better.*

-   Volunteers to produce an e-newsletter. *No one wanted to take this
    on. A listserv was discussed, but many TF members preferred simple
    e-mails of new information rather than more "spam."*

-   TR News publication. *Everyone agreed that Katie's leadership in
    getting special editions on Parks and public lands in TR News has
    been valuable. We can probably get another one in a couple years
    since one is coming out in July/Aug. 2004. Katie asked that ideas be
    e-mailed to her.*

-   Each TF member needs to help promote our efforts and provide ideas
    about annual meeting sessions that could be jointly sponsored by
    another committee. *No discussion on this topic that I recall.*

**5. Sessions for 2005 TRB Annual Meeting**

Carol noted that our session topics are due to TRB immediately after the
mid-year meeting. We are allocated 2.2 session (not including poster
sessions) this year.

[Poster session.]{.underline} Eddie Gonzalez of the National Park
Foundation and Katie proposed a poster session that would focus on the
Transportation Scholar program. All the scholars would be invited to
come and present a poster. The poster session might be expanded somewhat
to include some of the papers that are being submitted in response to
our call for papers, if they aren't accepted for presentation. Mention
was made that the transit committee might be interested in
co-sponsorship.

[Regular sessions.]{.underline} The TF discussed co-sponsorship and came
up with a couple ideas. Without co-sponsors we will have only two
sessions. That could increase to 3 sessions if we get one co-sponsor for
each of two sessions. Also, we expect to have a few papers that will
need to be included in either a standalone session or included within a
topical session where appropriate. Below are the names of potential
sessions, although more wordsmithing is needed.

> 1\) Managing change and maintaining visitor experience in the face of
> reconstruction on public lands.
>
> ACTION: Steve will see if Jerry Ullman's work zone committee will
> co-sponsor.
>
> 2\) Transportation and wildlife issues.
>
> ACTION: Steve will follow-up with the committee for co-
>
> sponsorship. Unsuccessful last year, but will try again.
>
> 3\) Case studies in transportation. This would be invited panelists,
> papers or a combination depending upon how the co-sponsorship ideas
> work out.

Post script on session topics. Kim Fisher has requested our session
titles and co-sponsors by Aug. 6. If co-sponsorships aren't secured by
then, Carol will submit session titles 1 and 3.

TRB Task Force on

Transportation Needs of National Parks and Public Lands

Mid-Year Meeting

Glacier National Park Headquarters Community Building

West Glacier, MT

**Agenda**

[Wednesday, July 21, 2004]{.underline}

9:00 am Welcome (Mick Holm, Superintendent, GNP)

9:15 am Overview of Mid-Year Meeting and Introductions (Carol Zimmerman,
Battelle, Chair)

9:30 am Status of Transportation Bill Reauthorization (Franz Glimmer,
Rails-to-Trails Conservency, Laura Loomis, National Parks Conservation
Association)

10:00 am Roundtable Discussion of "What is new and exciting?" (Steve
Albert, WTI/MSU)

11:00 am Research Roundtable Discussion of Ideas and Partnership
Opportunities (Steve Albert, WTI/MSU)

11:30 am Overview of Ford Proud Partner Transportation Scholar and
Interpreter Programs (Eddie Gonzalez, National Park Foundation)

11:45 am Lunch (Working)

12:00 pm History of Transportation at Glacier Park (Kass, Transportation
Interpreter, Glacier National Park)

1:00 pm Glacier National Park Red Bus Technical Tour

5:00 pm Adjourn

[Optional Evening Activities]{.underline}

6:30 pm Dinner at Belton Chalet and Networking

8:00 pm Campfire Talk on Alternative Transportation in Apgar Village

[Thursday, July 22, 2004]{.underline}

9:00 am Overview of Glacier National Park Transportation and Visitor
Experience Challenges and Opportunities (Susan Law & Gary Danczyk, GNP)

-   Going-to-the-Sun Road Reconstruction & Mitigation Measures

-   Glacier Park Transit Plan

-   ITS Strategic Planning

-   Alternative Fuel Planned Improvements

-   Shared Red Bike Program

10:00 am Glacier Park Road Construction Communication Strategies/Red Bus
Rehabilitation (Amy Vanderbilt, GNP)

10:20 am Glacier Fund's Role in Glacier Park (Jan Metzmaker, Glacier
Fund)

10:45 am Discussion of Gateway Community and Tribal Transportation
Partnership Challenges and Opportunities (Pam Kennedy, Mayor, City of
Kalispell, Steve Thompson, NPCA, Peter Saunders, City Service Inc., Ed
DeRosier, Sun Tours)

11:30 am Overview of Yellowstone National Park Transportation and
Visitor Experience Challenges and Opportunities (Doug Madsen, YNP and
Steve Albert, WTI/MSU)

-   Overview of Transportation Challenges -- Beyond Snowmobiles

-   Greater Yellowstone Rural ITS Corridor

-   Transit Tour District Planning and Vision

-   US-89 Rideshare Program

-   Alternative Fuel Planned Improvements

-   Integrating 511 into Yellowstone National Park (& Glacier NP)

-   ITS and National Park Video

12:30 pm Lunch (Working)

12:45 pm Discussion of Transportation, Public Lands and Wildlife Issues

> (Bill Ruediger, USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mtn Region)

1:15 pm Break

[TRB Task Force Business Meeting]{.underline}

1:30 pm Approval of January 2004 TRB Meeting Minutes

1:45 pm Subcommittee Reports

-   Research (Steve Albert, WTI/MSU)

-   Outreach (Sean Furniss, US Fish and Wildlife Service)

2:00 pm Discussion of Session Topic for 2005 TRB Annual Meeting

2:30 pm Liaison Reports/ Old Business/ New Business

2:45 pm Summary of Meeting "wrap up" and Thank you.

3:00 pm Adjourn

Directions:

Go to Park Headquarters in West Glacier, the front desk will have maps
to the community building. An official park map can be found at:

http://data2.itc.nps.gov/parks/glac/ppMaps/glacmap%2Epdf