Electric Buses In Zion National Park: 6-Month Report Card – CleanTechnica

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Background: Spectacular Zion Canyon — Cars Prohibited 7 Months a Year:

I would argue that the 6-mile route up Zion Canyon in Zion National Park is the most beautiful place in the world. Twenty-five years ago, Zion National Park went “green.” The National Park Service decided that automobile traffic in Zion Canyon had become so bad that they banned automobiles in the Canyon during all but a few months in the winter. The Park Service replaced the automobiles with buses, not just any buses, but “green” (for the time) propane-fueled, mostly tandem, buses. See two old propane-fueled shuttle buses below, taken from the Razors Edge on the Angels Landing Hike.

The 6-mile road up Zion Canyon is the non plus ultra of Zion National Park, but it can be reached only by shuttle buses from April through November. By the 2020s, the propane-powered buses had become so difficult to maintain that it was decided to replace them with electric buses. At this point, Zion has been converted to totally green electric buses.

Zion National Park Electric Bus Fall 2024 Status Report

“All told, Zion’s electric fleet now consists of the complete complement of five 40-foot Ebuses that shuttle visitors between Springdale and the park and 25 accordion-type (Articulated) 60-foot buses that operate inside the park. The smaller buses have 34 seats, five more than the 30-foot propane vehicles, which with their standing capacity can carry 70 passengers. The 60-foot buses have 48 seats and are equipped to handle up to 90 people,” according to the Salt Lake Tribune.

From some electric bus articles and my interviews of some drivers: The electric buses drive perfectly. The New Flyer 40-ft buses have a maximum range of 225 miles, and the 60-ft buses have a maximum range of 135 miles. One trip up and down Zion Canyon is 16 miles. That means the 60-ft buses can make a maximum of 8 trips up and down the Canyon on a single charge. According to one of the drivers, the buses make the 12-hours between 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. each day on a single charge. Each bus is charged at a dedicated plug-in charger every night. The overnight charge gets them through the whole day. The whole complement of 27 charging stations have been installed.

The 60-ft articulated buses are XDE60 Xcelsiors manufactured by New Flyer Industries Inc. of Winnipeg, Canada. According to a driver, the Zion e-buses were manufactured in the New Flyer US factory in Saint Cloud Minnesota. However, according to a couple of the drivers that I spoke with, they are not happy with the reliability of the new e-buses. The drive units may be reliable, but they have had numerous problems with other maintenance items. The old propane buses were well ventilated, but had no heating or air-conditioning. Temperatures reach 110° F here in the summer, which made them unbearable. The new electric buses have both heating and air-conditioning, but neither are adequate during extreme heat or cold. Fortunately, the buses don’t run during the coldest winter days.

To me, Zion National Park is the most beautiful park in the world. Its massive walls of beautiful contrasting red and white stone are unmatched anywhere. I have visited quite a few, and Yosemite is a close second for me with its incredibly massive half dome, the 3000-ft vertical face of El Capitan that you can stand next to, and the incomparable Sequoias of the Mariposa Grove. But the Yosemite rock formations are dull grey. I’ve driven the Grand Canyon of Hawaii on Kuai, the Grand Canyon of France in Provence. I’ve stood on the South Rim of THE Grand Canyon. To me nothing compares with Zion, as you see in these pictures My wife and I have visited Zion two or three or more times per year over the last 20 years.

It also has by far the most spectacular short hike in the world: Angels Landing.

Bikes & E-Bikes Are A Wonderful Alternative To The Shuttle Buses

The buses are fine if you can get one. It was easy years ago, but now the Park is so crowded that getting a parking place is impossible. You have to park outside and ride one of the short electric shuttle buses into the Park. In the peak seasons, the wait for buses is long. Bicycles are a wonderful alternative.

The Canyon walls are so tall and the Canyon is so narrow that you can’t see it well from an enclosed vehicle. On a bike, the whole panorama unfolds before you! Bikes and e-bikes are permitted 12 months a year in Zion Canyon. If you are moderately athletic, you can ride a regular bike. For those of us like me at 84 years who are not so athletic anymore, an e-bike is the perfect solution. So, you have kids, no problem, you can rent bikes where one or two kids can ride with you. During recent winters, my wife and I have spent time only 45 miles away in Saint George, Utah. I have a tray-type Saris bike rack on the back of my Tesla Model 3. My wife, who prefers to be my pit crew, drops me off at the base of the canyon.

For most tourists who don’t come with bikes, there are several bike and e-bike rental vendors in the town of Springdale, which abuts the Park.

There were many bikers on conventional human-powered bikes on the Zion Canyon Road. Many, like me, were on e-bikes.

You can ride right from the bike rental shop into the Park and then up the dedicated bike trail from the Visitors Center for a mile, and then join the shuttle buses on the 6-mile Zion Canyon Road. You are obliged to stop for the buses coming behind you, but they aren’t going much faster than me on my e-bike, so I often have time to pull off at a pullout to let them pass.