[burkaman]

I haven't been to Yellowstone so maybe this doesn't make sense, but is there a reason they couldn't implement the same system as Zion? During most of the year the main road in Zion is closed to private cars, and everyone uses the (very good) shuttle system, or bikes or walks.

[jhj]

I live near Yellowstone in Wyoming. The park is a lot more massive than Zion, usually involving multi-hour drives to get around, and there are multiple roads in the park, all of which don't necessarily see the same levels of traffic.

There also tend to not be as many people driving around slowly gawking on the roads themselves (unlike Zion or Yosemite, say), since most of the park doesn't have crazy vista views, it's mainly a high altitude, flat-ish volcanic plateau in the middle. The specific sites along the roads will have the traffic mostly.

[sib]

Zion (the parts people see, at least), is tiny by comparison.

Also, as a photographer, the shuttle system is pretty awful. It's no longer easily possible to do get out to where you want to be well before dawn.

[sofixa]

I did a trip through a bunch of national parks recently, and was thinking why the hell isn't there some sort of organised transit - be it shuttle busses, or trains for the capacity. The amount of space wasted for parking in a nature preserve was crazy, not to mention all the infrastructure for the traffic jams.

Then went to Grand Canyon and Zion and saw they have shuttles which are sometimes exclusive (if the shuttle is operating you cannot take the road), which makes so much more sense, and even allows for more flexibility (you can go on a hike which is out, and not have to walk back the same way but hop on the shuttle bus).

[burkaman]

I don't know why it isn't more common, especially when most parks have a relatively short main road/loop that 90% of visitors never leave. Yosemite for example has a great bus system that goes everywhere you need, except that they don't block private cars so the buses constantly get stuck in traffic. I think the exclusive shuttles at Zion are relatively new, so maybe it will spread to more parks in the future.

[HDThoreaun]

Zions shuttle system frankly blows. I went last week and had to wait 2 hours in line for it. Meanwhile you go to the kobol canyon area and I did not see a single person all day.

[thousandautumns]

Must vary widely, because I went in August and there was 0 line at all. A lot of places are on Spring Break in the US right now, so that may contribute to your experience.

[dendrite9]

I think Yellowstone is too big for that compared to places like Zion and Yosemite which have relatively small valleys where people concentrate. I'm not sure shuttles to see Tioga Pass would make sense in the same way they do in the valley.

[marssaxman]

There is in fact a high country shuttle operating in the Tuolomne Meadows area. It makes four stops per day at Tioga Pass:

https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/tmbus.htm