Banff Tourism Tries Carpool Rewards To Cut Congestion

Banff & Lake Louise Tourism is testing a new way to encourage visitors to change how they travel into Banff, typically its busiest day of the year for visitation.

The tourism organization launched a pop-up campaign on June 13, setting up along one of Banff's main entry routes with signs thanking visitors who carpooled. Staff rewarded those arriving with four or more people in a vehicle with free Whyte Museum passes as part of a broader effort to ease congestion.

The initiative was not part of Canada Day programming, and the organization did not disclose whether it had similar plans for the holiday, typically its busiest day of the year for visitation. Christie Pashby, director of public affairs for Banff & Lake Louise Tourism, said similar pop-ups are planned throughout the summer and fall.

Pashby said visitors who participated in the campaign responded positively.

"They were pleasantly surprised," she said.

The initiative comes during one of Banff’s busiest periods of the year. On a typical summer day, more than 24,000 vehicles are counted at Banff's town entrances, resulting in congestion somewhere in town.

Banff & Lake Louise Tourism hopes positive reinforcement can help shift visitor behaviour in a town where parking supply is limited and peak summer demand often exceeds available space.

"The main goal this summer is to just get out there and do it, to test this new 'rewarding good behaviour' approach," Pashby said. "It's meant to change the narrative and empower visitors to be part of the solution."

Banff has about 1,400 publicly available parking stalls on the north side of town, including roughly 600 free spaces and 800 paid spaces. The Town of Banff says the 500-stall free parking lot at the Banff Train Station is full on most summer days before 10 AM.

The initiative follows months of discussion in Banff about how to manage visitor volumes during major events and peak summer periods.

Earlier this year, Banff council voted to move the Canada Day parade to 10 a.m. after concerns were raised about crowding, traffic congestion and emergency access. The Town of Banff has said the earlier start time is intended to reduce traffic impacts during the busier afternoon travel period.

The Town is also encouraging visitors to avoid driving where possible and instead walk, cycle or use Roam Transit to help reduce traffic congestion.

Pashby said Banff & Lake Louise Tourism sees its carpool initiative as another tool to help reduce vehicle demand over the longer term.

"Long-term, we are definitely looking at things like decreasing the number of vehicles entering the town, among other key performance indicators," she said.