An Evaluation of Visitor Decisions Regarding Alternative Transportation in Glacier National Park

by Baker, Melissa Lynn

In 2007, Glacier National Park implemented a free, voluntary shuttle bus system along the Going to the Sun Road. The first year of implementation of the transit system at Glacier National Park presented a unique opportunity to evaluate visitor behavior in national parks. One way that transportation mode choice has been understood is through the theory of planned behavior, which characterizes social behavior as the result of conscious, deliberate thought processes directly related to the behavior in question. This study examined the intersection of national park visitors' recreation experience preference and their decisions toward shuttle use in a national park. Expanding upon the theory of planned behavior, this study explores the effects of attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control as well as visitors' higher order goals of recreation experience preference and desired recreational activities on their intentions toward shuttle use.

Results show visitors' preferences for experiences of solitude and personal control were significant predictors of intentions to ride the shuttle. Furthermore, when added to a model including the constructs of the theory of planned behavior, visitors' desires for experiences of solitude significantly improved the prediction of behavioral intentions beyond that of the theory of planned behavior alone.