South Rim - Tusayan Multimodal Transportation Action Plan

A Grand Canyon National Park shuttle bus makes a stop in Tusayan. The Tusayan Route provides free direct shuttle bus service between the gateway community of Tusayan, Arizona and the Grand Canyon Visitor Center, where visitors can access the free in-park shuttle bus system.

NPS Photo.

The purpose of the South Rim - Tusayan Multimodal Transportation Action Plan is to enhance the quality, extent, and use of multimodal transportation options between the gateway town of Tusayan, Arizona and the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park in a manner that benefits visitors, residents, service providers, community members,and park resources.

This plan is the result of a collaborative effort between the Grand Canyon-South Rim Chamber of Commerce, Grand Canyon National Park, Kaibab National Forest, Town of Tusayan, Paul Revere Transportation, and a variety of community partners to better understand the congestion in and around Tusayan and the south entrance to the park and its driving factors. The South Rim - Tusayan Multimodal Transportation Action Plan contains a series of tangible actions that are recommended from 2019-2024.

This action plan builds on the foundation of exisiting visions and approved plans to identify strategic, on-the-ground actions that can be implemented. The South Rim Visitor Transportation Plan, completed in 2008, serves as the most recent and relevant management direction for this effort.

 

A park ranger and another participant pose for a photo at the Grand Canyon National Park Entrance Arch on a recently completed Tusayan to Grand Canyon National Park Visitor Center Greenway during Bike Your Park Day on Sept. 24, 2016.

NPS Photo.

South Rim Visitor Transportation Plan

Grand Canyon National Park developed a visitor transportation plan and environmental assessment (EA) for the South Rim area of Grand Canyon National Park. The EA analyzes environmental and related impacts that may result from actions proposed and alternatives developed to address the park's most pressing traffic and visitor access issues within the South Rim area.

The purpose of the South Rim Visitor Transportation Plan is to provide a transportation system that addresses the park's most pressing transportation issues. Among these are: long waits at the South Entrance Station; visitor vehicle and tour bus parking demand that exceeds supply; traffic congestion on park roads and in parking lots; poor directional signage; and visitor access to Canyon View Information Plaza – the park's visitor orientation center. The plan would accommodate current and anticipated levels of visitation to the South Rim through 2020, facilitate enhanced visitor experiences, and protect park resources.

The transportation system would be adaptively managed to respond to changes in visitation through the life of the plan and would not preclude other future transportation systems from being implemented, including those that may be required for substantial increases in visitation.

Documents related to the South Rim Transportation Plan may be viewed on the Planning, Environment and Public Comment site, or requested from the Grand Canyon National Park Museum Collection: 928-638-7769.