Dimensions of alternative transportation experience in Yosemite and Rocky Mountain National Parks

•We determine salient ATS-related attitudinal variables across parks.•Salient attitudes toward ATS signify importance of ease, freedom, and stress.•Concepts of ease, freedom and stress inform social indicators and standards.•Concepts of ease, freedom and stress inform ATS planning and infrastructure.•Increase ATS ridership by emphasizing ease, freedom and lack of stress.

Increasingly the National Park Service (NPS) is using Alternative Transportation Systems (ATS) to accommodate escalating visitation. Understanding factors that influence visitors’ transportation-related decision making is essential to developing effective management strategies that will not only decrease reliance on personal vehicles but also encourage shuttle ridership and improve visitor experiences. Survey research, conducted in Yosemite (2007) and Rocky Mountain National Park (2008) examined visitor perspectives toward the ATS experience. Three important factors: ease, freedom and stress, were identified by analyzing visitor data from each park using both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. The similarity in results between studies indicate that ATS related services, including infrastructure and messaging themes, could be standardized at Yosemite and Rocky Mountain, and used to inform park management procedures at other NPS units.