Grand County weighs Arches shuttle pilot to ease Moab congestion

Entrance lines at Arches, parking pressure on Highway 191 and the squeeze it puts on Moab trips are back at the center of the conversation, this time with Grand County floating a shuttle pilot that could start as early as May 18. Commissioners voted 4-3 on April 7 to form a working group to sort through funding, feasibility and the National Park Service’s role before any service moves forward.

The concept, developed with Via Transportation, the company that runs Moab Area Transit, would use 12- to 15-passenger shuttles running every 15 to 30 minutes. The proposal envisions a hub-and-spoke system linking downtown Moab with Arches stops including Panorama Point, Delicate Arch, The Windows and Devils Garden. County leaders say the goal is to cut backups at the park entrance, reduce pressure on Main Street and make the whole corridor safer for people trying to get between town and the park.

The vote exposed how unsettled the idea still is. Commissioners Trish Hedin, Jacques Hadler and Mary McGann opposed forming the working group, while Commission Chair Melodie McCandless, Vice Chair Bill Winfield and Commissioner Brian Martinez were expected to help guide it alongside Moab City Mayor Joette Langianese, the National Park Service and other state and federal partners. Martinez has framed the effort as a practical, affordable and environmentally sustainable response to congestion, but the county has not secured funding and any transportation changes inside Arches would still depend on the NPS.

That matters because Arches is already a pressure cooker for visitors. On February 18, the park said it would not require advanced timed-entry reservations in 2026, but it also warned travelers to expect entrance lines and limited parking at popular spots, especially on weekends and holidays. The park said vehicles may be temporarily diverted when areas get too crowded, and reservations still apply to Devils Garden Campground and Fiery Furnace hikes.

The scale of the problem is not small. NPS data show Arches visitation climbed from 833,049 in 2006 to 1,585,718 in 2016, and the agency says parking congestion is now the norm from mid-March through early November. It also says the park averages about 2,000 commercial bus tours a year. Earlier transportation work found a shuttle could cut car traffic by 23 to 28 percent, but one-way trips could take as long as 1 hour and 20 minutes and operating costs could run from $2 million to $3 million for a five-month season, not counting 14 buses.

The county’s new push arrives after years of debate over how to handle access, including a 2012 shuttle feasibility study and a November 2025 Access and Capacity Enhancement draft that backed a cooperative model for sustainable access. The latest proposal could become the first real test of whether Moab and Arches can move visitors differently, or whether the idea will stall in the same congestion it is meant to solve.