Shuttle Surpasses 10,000 Riders
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08/01/2006
Just halfway through its inaugural season, it’s apparent that visitors and residents have embraced the new Estes Park Shopper Shuttle as an alternative mode of transportation in this mountain village. On July 31 the 10,000th passenger boarded the Shopper Shuttle at the Estes Park Visitors Center as it prepared for a mid-day run to the core downtown business area.
Jessie Pawling, a Long Beach, CA resident was the lucky passenger named as the 10,000th rider.
“Oh, my,” Pawling said as Mayor Pro Tem Bill Pinkham awarded her a shopping bag filled with Estes Park memorabilia. “I thought you were going to tell me I had to get off the bus!” Pawling, a first-time visitor to Estes Park, was in town for the annual Gospel Music Association Music Seminar and nightly concert series that ends Saturday, Aug. 5.
The free ride transit system began operations on July 1 and will continue through Labor Day on a continuous loop that carries passengers on U.S. Hwy. 34-Elkhorn Avenue from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Individuals board shuttles at seven locations east of the Visitors Center, at delivery pull-offs on both sides of Elkhorn Avenue through the core downtown area and at Performance Park at 30-minute intervals.
Also popular is Rocky Mountain National Park’s Hiker Shuttle that operates from a hub at the Estes Park Visitors Center to take passengers to the Park’s Park & Ride lot on Bear Lake Road. Nearly 5,000 passengers have taken advantage of that route.
Although the official transit season ends Sept. 4, Shopper Shuttles will be transitioned to Longs Peak Scottish Irish Highland Festival operations the weekend after Labor Day. During the annual festival that garners attention from more than 60,000 people, the shuttles will operate on a circle route from the Visitors Center to a transportation pull-out at the Estes Park Town Hall before heading to the Estes Park Conference Center and Stanley Park, headquarters for the event.
For more information about the shuttle system and Estes Park, call the Estes Park Visitors Center at 970-577-9900 or 800-443-7837.
Jessie Pawling, a Long Beach, CA resident was the lucky passenger named as the 10,000th rider.
“Oh, my,” Pawling said as Mayor Pro Tem Bill Pinkham awarded her a shopping bag filled with Estes Park memorabilia. “I thought you were going to tell me I had to get off the bus!” Pawling, a first-time visitor to Estes Park, was in town for the annual Gospel Music Association Music Seminar and nightly concert series that ends Saturday, Aug. 5.
The free ride transit system began operations on July 1 and will continue through Labor Day on a continuous loop that carries passengers on U.S. Hwy. 34-Elkhorn Avenue from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Individuals board shuttles at seven locations east of the Visitors Center, at delivery pull-offs on both sides of Elkhorn Avenue through the core downtown area and at Performance Park at 30-minute intervals.
Also popular is Rocky Mountain National Park’s Hiker Shuttle that operates from a hub at the Estes Park Visitors Center to take passengers to the Park’s Park & Ride lot on Bear Lake Road. Nearly 5,000 passengers have taken advantage of that route.
Although the official transit season ends Sept. 4, Shopper Shuttles will be transitioned to Longs Peak Scottish Irish Highland Festival operations the weekend after Labor Day. During the annual festival that garners attention from more than 60,000 people, the shuttles will operate on a circle route from the Visitors Center to a transportation pull-out at the Estes Park Town Hall before heading to the Estes Park Conference Center and Stanley Park, headquarters for the event.
For more information about the shuttle system and Estes Park, call the Estes Park Visitors Center at 970-577-9900 or 800-443-7837.
