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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs is adding a free shuttle this summer to relieve some of the parking headaches that plague the popular park.
The garden will use two 14-passenger vans to shuttle visitors along a half-hour-long loop beginning at Rock Ledge Ranch Historic Site with stops at the Garden of the Gods Visitor and Nature Center and the intersection of Gateway Road and Juniper Way Loop. As part of the pilot program, a temporary, free parking lot will be set up at Rock Ledge Ranch with room for 400 vehicles.
The shuttles will depart from Rock Ledge Ranch every 15 minutes between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. daily.
Parks officials said the shuttle is just one of several ideas they’ll be trying out.
“Launching the shuttle system this summer is part of our incremental approach to apply small-scale pilot programs to gauge impact and measure feedback on utilization patterns,” said Colorado Springs Parks and Recreation Manager Kim King. “We know we won’t have all the answers right away, but because we want to increase alternative ways to experience the garden, it’s critically important to test programs like this shuttle.”
The shuttles will be in operation from late May until early September, officials said.