Park booking system put to test
Mt Ruapehu’s new car park booking system was put to the test for its inaugural weekend last weekend as thousands headed up the mountain.
Over 13,000 people enjoyed last weekend at both Whakapapa and Tu¯ roa after a good week of snowfall with 20cm falling on the upper mountain, helping form a good base. The Valley T Bar at Whakapapa opened for the first time on Saturday and the Knoll Ridge T Bar opened earlier this week.
The new car park booking system helped ease the traffic congestion over the busy weekend, said Ruapehu Alpine Lifts chief executive Jono Dean.
“The new system ran smoothly and in particular on Sunday we noticed that it helped spread the morning flow of traffic over the entire morning resulting in a streamlined and more positive experience for visitors.
“We heard numerous positive comments, including that it was nice to not have to rush up the mountain early to try and get a car park.”
The new booking system has been introduced to help ease traffic congestion and offer all visitors the opportunity to easily park up the mountain when a booking has been made. With its ‘live’ booking capability people can see when is the best time to visit.
“We don’t want visitors sitting in long frustrating queues waiting for a park, or rushing on sometimes icy roads to get up the mountain. We’re also hoping that people will plan their trip ahead and avoid busy weekend times, there is still great skiing and riding to be had mid-week,” Jono says.
Ruapehu Alpine Lifts launched the car park booking system after customer complaints about queuing for parking and general volumes of visitors to the ski areas.
“Mountain visitors will appreciate this new system after they try it and experience the benefits — especially after hearing the reported dawn dashes recently to get a car park for the southern ski fields as well as long queues. We don’t want people driving in often icy conditions and rushing just to get a carpark,” Jono says.
Carparks can be booked online at www.mtruapehu.com the Wednesday prior to the weekend of travel, and will show live availability so people can easily see when the best time to visit is.
Those who are a ‘no show’ when they’ve booked will be sent an alert to say they are late and if they don’t arrive as per their updated ETA the car park will be released back into the availability pool.
“We’re also asking people to be considerate and only book a carpark if they intend using it and to cancel it if they decide not to use it. The system won’t allow bookings at both Tu¯ roa and Whakapapa on the same day, or for multiple arrival times on the same day.”
The car park booking system is an integral part of managing traffic congestion on the mountain.
“If visitors don’t want to drive using a local shuttle service is another option, there are plenty of pick up points from local towns around the region,” Jono says.
Before heading up the mountain visitors are advised to check the Mt Ruapehu website for the latest updates, snowcams, weather conditions and to book a carpark. Further information about the new car parking booking system, including extensive Q and A’s, is also on the website www.mtruapehu.com.