Acadia expected to offer reservations for parking hot spots by 2021

Photo / Laurie Schreiber Acadia National Park officials are well along in the development of a transportation plan designed to reduce congestion in some of the park’s most popular locations.

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By Laurie Schreiber

Acadia National Park is well along in the development of a transportation plan that includes a parking reservation system for three of the park’s most popular spots.

The park’s superintendent, Kevin Schneider, last week updated the Bar Harbor Town Council on the plan’s progress.

“Cadillac Mountain, Ocean Drive and Jordan pond will go to timed entry,” he said. “We’re working on the logistics. It’s very complicated.”

Considerations include the type of technology needed for a reservation system, how reservations will be validated in the field, and whether components of the program can be outsourced.

“I’m optimistic we’ll meet our time frame for 2021 to institute the reservation system for those locations,” he added.

Councilors wanted to know if the reservation system would only accommodate people who plan a visit well in advance, or those who plan spontaneously as well as locals looking to get in whenever they want.

Schneider said that, in holding conversations with local hoteliers and chambers of commerce, the park has heard that optimal implementation might include half of the reservations opened up six months in advance and half 48 hours in advance. That could accommodate both long- and short-term planners as well as locals, he said.

“We’re open to being adaptive,” he added.

Messaging

Schneider said the service is also working with local businesses and organizations to develop messaging channels to get word out about the reservation system. The system is expected to result in more demand for Island Explorer shuttle bus, and contracts for touring buses is expected to grow as well, he said.

“That’s been a segment that’s grown faster than other segments of visitation,” he said of the latter. “Some people will choose to take the Explorer, others to take a tour, and others will get a reservation for their car.”

Councilor Matthew Hochman wanted to know if some number of reservations can be set aside for local residents.

“We’ve heard that sentiment in public meetings,” said Schneider. As a result, the park ratcheted back the reservation period for the Ocean Drive portion of the Park Loop Road to end at 5 p.m.

“So someone who gets off work and wants to go in after 5 won’t need a reservation,” he said.

Overall, he said, if there’s a reservation available, anyone will be able to take it on the spot. That will probably be the case, he said, for Ocean Drive and for Cadillac Mountain at certain times of the season and certain times of day, although likely not at sunrise, the mountain’s most popular time. Reservations for Jordan Pond House will probably be snatched up, he added.

The rest of the park will not be subject to reservations.

The park service will be looking at the idea of a reservations discount pack that locals can buy when they buy their discounted annual pass in December. There will be a fee for reservations, he said.

Expanded shuttle

Other pieces of the transportation plan are also in the works.

The service is developing a component that will require concession operators to use smaller touring vehicles of no more than 38 feet long, which is about the size of an Explorer bus. The length is considered more conducive to traveling the Park Loop Road and navigating the winding access road to the top of Cadillac Mountain. The vehicles will accommodate 30 to 35 passengers.

“We’re building the prospectus now,” Schneider said. “We hope to issue a prospectus for bids in early 2020.” The goal is to have the smaller buses on the road for 2021.

The service is also looking at requiring vehicles that run on clean fuels, such as propane, electric, hybrid or clean diesel. Upon implementation, larger concession motor coaches will eventually be phased out and no longer permitted on the Loop Road or up Cadillac Mountain. Demand from cruise ships accounts for about 80% of concessionary tour bus traffic, but it’s expected the smaller vehicles will still be able to accommodate that demand, he said. Although the plan means there will be more tour buses running, they’ll be smaller-sized and cleaner, which is considered a favorable tradeoff.

In addition:

• The park service is working with Downeast Transportation to expand the Island Explorer shuttle service, including new vehicles that might be needed, as well as new routes. “We’d love to continue working with the towns to figure out how to expand the Explorer to meet the needs of all the communities,” Schneider said.

• The park service is working on getting federal funding for a redesign of Acadia’s primary visitor center, in Hulls Cove. The redesign is expected to include a larger parking lot. “It’s a place for people to leave their car behind and hop on the bus,” Schneider said. “We’ve seen growing demand for parking at Hulls Cove, especially with the advent of vacation rentals: People who rent a home can park at Hulls Cove, then hop on the bus.” Park officials hope to start the redesign this year, he added.

• The park service is working with the Maine Department of Transportation and Office of Tourism to optimize parking at Trenton’s Acadia Gateway Center, a regional transportation hub and an Island Explorer terminal with room for a larger park-and-ride for multiple demographics that includes visitors to Acadia and commuters. The park-and-ride expansion is keyed with expanded Explorer access, he explained. “We’re hopeful that can get constructed in the next few years,” he said. “The park is trying to find funds to contribute to it.”

• The park service is looking at the possibility of installing electric vehicle charging stations in places like campgrounds, Schneider said.

Overall, he said, “What we’re doing is allowing for sustainable growth in park visitation over time. It’s going to happen, so we need to take action now to prepare to welcome those visitors in the future, and to maintain that high-quality experience.”

Hochman noted that, while news reports focus on overcrowding, there are plenty of places in the park that aren’t crowded.

“I think people see the big three — Jordan Pond, Sand Beach, Cadillac Mountain — and say the entire park is overcrowded,” Hochman said. “I’d like to urge people to go climb some of the other mountains. There are plenty of places in Acadia that are not congested.”