GET ME REWRITE: 24 years later, light rail line to Grand Canyon remains a pipe dream

Yup, the idea flamed out.  As a result, the lines of vehicles waiting to enter the park go on forever.

Screenshot:  KUTV

That was then:  New York Times, 6/20/1999

From Retiring Guy's clippings file

This is now:  The Beauty of Transport, 9/3/2014

Bottom line:  Americans can't function without their cars.

The complex feels a little disconnected from Grand Canyon Village itself, as though these impressive modern facilities have landed in the middle of nowhere. That’s because the shelters and visitor center were planned as a new gateway to a car-free Grand Canyon National Park. The putative railroad station was built as a terminus for a new Y-shaped light rail system which would have connected a park and ride site at Tusayan (again) with the visitor center. With very few exceptions, day visitors to the Grand Canyon would have been required to leave their cars at the park and ride site, not even being allowed to drive them in to parking lots in the park (as they still can today).  [General public reaction.]  The Visitor Center would then have acted as a first point of contact with the Grand Canyon for most visitors, though tourists could have stayed on to be transported onwards along the other arm of the Y to Maswik Transportation Center (yes, there again). Within the park, shuttle buses would have connected with the light rail stations to provide onward travel. This time the plans progressed far enough to see the construction of the new Visitor Center and the light rail station, but not the light rail system itself.

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24 years later, ski season traffic jams are still a headache in Colorado.  (2/16/2023)

24 years later, Vail Colorado still determined to keep out the riffraff.  (2/15/2023)