Visit Glacier this summer and you'll be able to check out the shiny new buses and vans the park will put to use shuttling visitors along the Going-to-the-Sun Road.
    Under a deal finalized this winter between officials from the federal government, Flathead County, and the state of Montana, the park will roll out eight 23-passenger buses and 22 12-passenger vans this summer. While the buses and vans will be tooling along the Sun Road during the summer months, the rest of the year they'll be put to use by Flathead County's Eagle Transit and other Montana transit service providers.
    The 30 rigs cost $4 million, with the funding provided by the federal government for Sun Road mitigation. Ongoing operational costs will be covered by a $5 set-aside from park entrance fees.
    The shuttle buses are scheduled to be phased into use this July.
    "The optional free shuttle service is not intended to replace the popular Sun Road guided interpretive tours currently provided by Sun Tours (which offers Blackfeet perspectives of Glacier) or Glacier Park, Inc. (which runs the Red Jammers)," says park Supt. Mick Holm. "The shuttles will only provide step on, step off, point-to-point transportation."