Sustainable Transportation for Tourism: Indicators and Standards

The overall project goal of guiding planning and management of transportation to serve the needs of sustainable tourism focused on three tourism-related transportation contexts. The first context was selected types of roads important to tourism in northern New England: park and related roads (e.g., the Loop Road in Acadia National Park, Maine), rural roads/Scenic Byways (e.g., Route 100 in Vermont), and rural sections of interstate highways (e.g., Interstate 89 in Vermont). The second context was selected tourism destinations important in Vermont and other tourism-dependent northern communities: tourism villages (e.g., downtown destinations like Stowe and Burlington). The third context was public transit in park settings (e.g., the Island Explorer in Bar Harbor, Maine). Case studies from these three contexts served as the focus for the creation of a level of service framework. Two tourism-related transportation contexts were the focus for examination of components necessary in a green certification program to affect change in tourist travel. The first context applied to transportation systems within parks and scenic roads. The second context was transportation options in tourism villages and ski resorts. Within these two contexts, “green” alternatives for mass transit and tourism-related motorcoach travel were examined.