WASHINGTON -- Here we go again. Just as the motorcoach industry begins digesting a government report that outlines actions that could seriously hurt the tour-and-charter bus industry in Washington D.C., a federal agency has begun work on another study that likely will impact operators as well.
The National Park Service is seeking public input for a new study it says is needed to respond to growing transportation and parking problems that tourists face when they visit the nation's capital and the Washington landmarks it manages.
"The needs are changing and we want to address concerns and complaints that visitors have expressed to us," said Bill Line, a spokesman for the Park Service.
He said the Park Service study will offer wide ranging recommendations for improving the transporting of tourists, including a single or multiple transportation system that could be run by the government, a private contractor or a combination of both.
The Park Service currently contracts with a private company to provide sightseeing tours for visitors, while a number of private companies offer tours and shuttle services. Additionally, motorcoach companies from throughout the U.S. and Canada bring thousands of visitors to the nation's capital every day.
The study is expected to be completed by year end and its recommendations implemented starting next year and continuing until late in 2007.

Back to study No. 1
Word of the new study comes just weeks after the motorcoach industry began digging into a far-reaching study of parking and traffic management problems in Washington and finding potential landmines.
That study, which was undertaken on behalf of a public-private partnership, called the Tour Bus Management Initiative, was conducted by the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, the research arm of the U.S. Department of Transportation.
One feature of that report is a plan to creating a Downtown Circulator, which might use shuttle buses to transport tourists from staging areas near the Capital Mall to the various attractions throughout the capital and memorials complex. Under such a scenario, motorcoach operators might be required to drop off their passengers at the staging areas.
Operators have complained that such a setup could be devastating to their industry because their groups might not be able to stay together. Senior and school groups would be particular vulnerable to such a system.
Line said the Park Service study also will look into methods of transporting individuals and groups to attractions along the two-mile Capital Mall and outside of the mall area, as well as to hotels and restaurants in other parts of Washington and in nearby Virginia and Maryland.

Park Service to seek input
Additionally, he said those involved in the Parks Service study will work closely with the Volpe team, other government agencies and private organizations that are doing related studies or are involved in transportation issues in Washington and the surrounding area.
"We plan to work with everybody," he emphasized.
While the Park Service study is in its infancy, researchers already have done a substantial amount of work, including surveying Washington visitors on transportation issues, examining buses that could be used for a new transportation system, and looking at how other communities handle visitor transportation services.
Findings in the survey showed that 41 percent of those questioned spent two to four days visiting an average of five attractions each day. Just over half of them said they would like to see transportation between the attractions and other locations in the area such as hotels and restaurants.
Buses the Park Service considered include standard transit buses, articulated transit buses, small transit buses, trolley replicas, double-decker buses and tourist trams. Routes would be developed that would minimize travel time and deliver people as close as possible to as many attractions at possible.
The review of other communities - done by the Volpe Center for the Park Service - included Boston, Philadelphia, Orlando, London and Savannah, Ga. Ideas gleamed from the study of Savannah included a free downtown shuttle service that takes tourists through the city's historic district and strict regulations that require tour bus operators to use only specifically designated routes and areas for unloading passengers and for parking.
Line said the Park Service plans to hold a series of meetings to gather input from everyone who is interested - motorcoach companies; transit agencies; tourist organizations; local, state and federal government officials, and other groups or individuals.

Meetings this month
The first meetings are planned for Thursday, Feb. 5, in Room 9 of the Old Post Office Pavilion, 1100 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, and Friday, Feb. 6, at the Women in Military Service for America Memorial at Arlington Memorial Cemetery. Both meetings will be from 2 to 4 p.m. and 5 to 8 p.m. The dates for other meetings have not been scheduled.
Meanwhile, about a dozen people spoke at a public meeting in Washington last month to discuss the Volpe study for the Tour Bus Management Initiative.
Several speakers argued against the development of the Downtown Circulator. "The circulator idea was not met with an enthusiastic response," noted a Washington D.C. official who attended the meeting.
Theodore Knappen, an attorney for the American Bus Association and one of those who spoke at the meeting, stressed that several companies now provide a circulator service and any of them could easily expand if more were needed. "There is no need to consider spending tens of millions of dollars to create a new publicly operated circulator system, which would add dozens of new buses to the D.C. streets and potentially destroy the existing private-sector system," Knappen insisted.
He said he agreed with the study team's expression of doubts about the overall benefit of another circulator service, noting the need for more, not less, loading space and the potential for detrimental changes in the way tour buses serve their customers. "We share those doubts," he added.

Parking idea supported
Knappen said he supported a study idea that Union Station would make a good location for a bus parking facility, especially if new parking rates were established, which the study recommended.
Currently, fees are $20 for three hours and it has been suggested that they be changed to $20 to $25 a day for multiple in-and-out privileges. Under such a plan, a tour bus could drop off passengers at an attraction, park at Union Station and then return later to pick them up, take them to another attraction and return to the parking lot.
"We strongly support the report's recommendation that tour bus parking pricing policies should allow tour bus operators to use multiple parking facilities with unlimited ins and outs," Knappen said.
The Tour Bus Management Initiative study group plans to begin working with a consultant to develop a financially feasible and sustainable implementation plan for the report.