MORAINE LAKE – A new private bus company is rolling out a sunrise shuttle to fill a niche left unmet with Moraine Lake Road closed year-round to private vehicles.
Visiting iconic Moraine Lake has been an almost impossible task for locals and visitors alike as parking lots fill up before sunrise and remain full until sunset, creating congestion chaos and ruining visitor experiences, prompting Parks Canada to close the 12.8-kilometre scenic road year-round and making Parks Canada, Roam or private commercial transit mandatory.
Alarmed by a gap in service for hikers, climbers and mountaineers, Banff couple Jesse Kitteridge and Alexandra King started the Moraine Lake Bus Company, a new company offering daily sunrise departures to Moraine Lake, leaving Samson Mall in the Lake Louise village at 4 a.m. starting June 1.
Bus tickets start at $35 return for adults and $25 for children, but the company is offering free shuttles to Banff locals who may struggle with the cost through Banff Lake Louise Tourism’s Ambassador Pass program.
“We were frustrated by Parks Canada’s decision to close the Moraine Lake Road without offering a sunrise shuttle for local hikers and climbers,” said Kitteridge, the director of operations of Moraine Lake Bus Company.
“There’s all these ultra classic and historical routes on Temple and Mount Fay, you know, that require this super early access, and Parks Canada just shut the door on all of that and closed that off essentially.”
Parks Canada shuttles, Roam public transit and private commercial buses are permitted on Moraine Lake Road from June to mid-October. The federal agency will make exceptions for visitors with valid parking placards for people with disabilities and guests of Moraine Lake Lodge.
Between 2010 and 2019, there was a 29 per cent increase in visitation to Banff National Park, and at Lake Louise specifically, there has been a 71 per cent increase in traffic over the past decade. Last summer, the Moraine Lake lot accommodated about 900 vehicles a day, while another 5,000 vehicles a day were turned away.
“What’s maybe been lost in this is the road has essentially been closed to most people for four or five years, because 95 per cent of people get turned away,” said Kitteridge. “So for those people, the road is closed as you know it, whether it’s closed on paper or not.”
The first sunrise shuttle departure to Moraine Lake is at 4 a.m. from Samson Mall, while the first shuttle to depart the park-and-ride lot at the Lake Louise ski hill and gondola is at 6:20 a.m. Shuttles run throughout the day and times are available on www.morainelakebus.com.
Kitteridge said Moraine Lake Bus Company, which has secured two 24-passenger buses, is working with others to lobby Parks Canada to allow them to operate out of the former park-and-ride lot on the Trans-Canada Highway east of the hamlet of Lake Louise.
He said the Whitehorn Road to the Lake Louise ski area is closed until 6 a.m. – given Parks Canada’s concerns about wildlife activity in the area at that time of day – meaning the sunrise shuttle operation can only leave from Samson Mall.
“The reason that we start at 4 a.m. and not at 3 a.m., and the reason we don’t have that many sunrise shuttles, is because we are heavily limited by the parking situation in Lake Louise,” he said.
“The preferred option from all of us private operators and climbers’ access and hikers’ access groups would be the Lake Louise overflow parking lot. And Parks has so far said no,” he added.
“We’re working to change that, that would directly impact our ability, well, our ticket price because as it is, we pay a percentage of our revenue to our pickup location providers.”
As well as complimentary rides for Banff locals through the Ambassador Pass program, the company would also offer discounts and flexibility for climbers and mountaineers who need to start the day early.
Popular routes, such as the classic East Ridge and North Face of Mount Temple, Grand Sentinel and Valley of the Ten Peaks, need early starts.
“As locals and climbers ourselves, we understand how important it is to be able to visit your own backyard, as well as the flexibility and sometimes short notice required for climbing parties to get out and back on some of the longer routes originating from Moraine Lake,” said King.
“With that in mind, these user groups can give us a call and we can likely sort them out with a flexible and discounted option”.
In addition, Moraine Lake Bus Company is the only Banff business listed on the Alberta Living Wage Network, meaning that the company’s employees earn at least Bow Valley’s established living wage of $32.75/hour.
“This was very important to us,” said Kitteridge, who added that has also meant the company has been flooded with applications. “Hiring was not maybe as difficult as it could have been,” he said.
On April 13, Parks Canada opened up its reservation system for Lake Louise and Moraine Lake from the park-and-ride lot at the ski hill. Paid parking fees are up to $21 a day at Upper Lake Louise, with paid parking in effect from May 19 until Oct. 9 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The reservation system released 40 per cent of the entire season’s tickets (mid-May to mid-October) last week, with the remaining 60 per cent going on sale on a rolling window at 8 a.m. two days before departure day. For example, the second release of tickets for June 3 will be available June 1.
James Eastham, a spokesperson for Lake Louise, Yoho and Kootenay, said 21,663 reservations for the Parks Canada shuttles had been made by April 18.
“The remaining 60 percent will be released in a rolling window 48 hours before departure to accommodate more last minute travellers,” he said. “Parks Canada recommends visitors reserve at least 24 hours in advance.”
CORRECTION: The original story stated it was the only company doing daily sunrise departures to Moraine Lake, but Moraine Lake Sunrise Shuttle also offers the same daily option.
