Monorail: A Model for an Alternative Mode of
Transportation in National Parks

by Jerry Watson

Chair of the Supervisory Committee:
Professor Kristina Hill
Co-Chairperson: Professor David Streatfield

2002

Roads, parking lots, traffic congestion, and gridlock are degrading precious and finite landscapes in National Parks, threatening their continued presence as viable ecosystems. As a result, parks confronted with increased private vehicle usage with consequential detrimental environmental effects, are struggling to find management solutions that are directed at mitigating traffic congestion, maintaining a quality visitor experience while protecting the resource.

The infrastructure in many of our largest western parks was designed a century ago, and is inadequate to meet the needs of today’s park visitors. Thus, I argue that the salient transportation issues threatening the ecological sustainability of national parks are the impacts of roads and increased vehicle usage.

To address these issues, park planners and the American public must thoroughly and thoughtfully consider alternative modes of transportation within the parks that are both ecologically sound and experientially rewarding. The challenge of balancing stewardship of park resources while accommodating public access will require Americans to consider, accept, and support new modes of transportation within the national parks. The success or failure we achieve in addressing this challenge will clearly define the integrity and quality of our parks for decades to come.

I argue that Monorail affords a beneficial strategy for future transportation planning purposes in our national parks. A monorail system, thoughtfully planned and implemented, will transform the way we move in and through our most protected landscapes. It will provide a sustainable transportation system for the parks that reduces the impact of roads and automobile usage, and provides for the enjoyment of the user.

It is my recommendation that an elevated monorail system, sensitive to both ecological and experiential criteria, be incrementally incorporated into the existing transportation infrastructure of the largest and most heavily utilized national parks. This system could eventually supplant automobiles in the parks.

We must protect the cultural and ecological legacies of the national parks, recognizing that this will only be possible if park planners and the public adhere to the basic tenets of the organic act: to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wildlife therein, while providing for the enjoyment of the public, but not at the expense of the environment.