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BRYCE, Garfield County — A Utah company will continue to operate its popular bus service at Bryce Canyon National Park for at least the next five years, park officials announced Wednesday.
Red Canyon Transit, LLC, was awarded the park's shuttle bus contract for this year and through March 2027. The company will be in charge running and maintaining the park's eight shuttle buses during that time as a part of the deal.
Park officials said the park's seasonal bus service, which has been in operation since 2000, provides visitors access to amenities, trails and other locations throughout Bryce Canyon, as well as hotels and campsites just outside the park. The service is funded by park entrance fees and is free to ride for people who have entered the park.
While it's the only Utah national park that didn't break a visitation record in 2021, Bryce Canyon National Park is still Utah's second-most trafficked national park. It drew over 2.1 million visitors last year.
Red Canyon Transit has operated the service since 2015. Its initial contract expired in 2020, but the company was given a one-year extension for 2021. Park officials estimate that 750,000 visitors used the service in 2019 — the last year of service before COVID-19 concerns hampered park visitation and experiences.
That meant more than one in every four visitors at the park rode the shuttle at some point that year. Park officials said 822,000 people rode the shuttle bus in 2018 during the park's busiest year on record. That's when a record 2.68 million people visited the park.
"Ridership on the system has grown considerably in the last decade, which has reduced the park's carbon footprint and vehicle congestion at popular viewpoints and the visitor center," park officials wrote in a statement.
The bus service ran on a modified schedule in 2020 and 2021 because of COVID-19 concerns. It's unclear if that will continue to be the case this year.
This year's schedule is April 1 through Oct. 23. One of its past shuttle routes, the guided Rainbow Point shuttle tour, will not be a part of this year's schedule.
Lewis Brothers Stages, based in Salt Lake City, held the park's first shuttle contract beginning in 2000. Red Canyon Transit was founded by members of that company, per park officials.
According to the deal announced Wednesday, Red Canyon Transit may have five additional option years available once its new deal expires on March 24, 2027.
