Park and ride gains traction
Aproposal to establish a park and ride system for visitors to Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park appears to be gaining traction, with the Department of Conservation identifying it as a preferred option for helping to alleviate increasing tourism pressures on the area.
The proposal has been included in DOC’s draft Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park management plan, which has just been released for public comment.
It follows a massive spike in visitor numbers to the area, with the national park attracting more than 945,000 visitors in 2017-18.
Recent research reveals almost two-thirds of visitors are foreigners, with tourists from Australia and China making up about one-third of all international visitors.
According to the plan’s documents, ‘‘continuing to provide a high quality visitor experience for rapidly increasing numbers of people has been identified as the key issue for the management of the village and accessible front country’’.
The plan proposes to remove access for day visitor cars and campervans into the park at times when a park and ride public transport system is operating, along with investigating ‘‘options to remove all visitor vehicle access to the park during peak use seasons’’.
The plan notes that roading will be under increasing pressure, particularly near the village.
‘‘The preference for management is to reduce the number of vehicles on the roads at the times of highest use, without limiting people’s ability to access all areas of the park.
‘‘Providing a public transport service to run from the park entrance at Birch Hill, along the main roading corridors to connect with the village and road-end facilities, will be investigated as an option to address this.
‘‘Establishing a car parking area outside the Birch Hill entrance, with associated visitor facilities, would need to be considered to facilitate such a park and ride type of service.’’
‘‘The park is already close to capacity for servicing the numbers of vehicles entering it in the peak seasons.
‘‘It is anticipated that numbers will more than double over the life of this plan.’’
Federated Mountain Clubs president Peter Wilson praised DOC for a ‘‘very thorough’’ management plan. He was particularly pleased with the plan’s emphasis on recreational activities.
However, he worried about how the park and ride system would be implemented.
‘‘Kiwis aren’t used to getting outside of their vehicles on the edge of a national park and into a bus.’’
He was also concerned about the draft plan’s proposal to review the status of the two volunteer-run huts at the White Horse Hill Camp Ground.
‘‘Every 10 years, DOC tries to shift the huts, and we have to fight for their existence,’’ Wilson said.