Full speed ahead for the new electric shuttle at the ABQ BioPark
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – It’s been a long time coming after plans for an ABQ BioPark shuttle got derailed for several years due to mechanical issues. News 13 got a roundtrip look at the park’s latest addition: their new electric shuttle.
It’s full speed ahead for the ABQ BioPark‘s newest ride: “We are standing at the Zoo’s Shuttle Station and this is the stop where guests can get on and hop a ride on our electric shuttle and travel all the way over to the aquarium and the botanic garden,” said Allyson Zahm, guest experience manager at the ABQ BioPark.
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The roundtrip ride seats about 45 people and takes roughly 15 minutes on a scenic route past Tingley Beach and the bosque, “…and you also get kind of a sneak peak behind the scenes at the zoo—you’ll pass by the elephants and even a little glimpse at our backstage Asia area,” Zahm said.
The two-year journey for the park to get this shuttle began overseas: “Our shuttle was made in Portugal and so this is new, there’s very few of these in the United States so we’re pretty excited to be pioneering some of this electric technology,” Zahm said.
“Our mission is to connect people with nature but we also want to inspire people to protect nature I think lots of different choices in our lives impact the planet and if we as leaders in conservation can take some of these first and sometimes harder steps towards converting to electric vehicles, I think it’s a great inspiration for our city as we consider to maybe moving our vehicles towards electric,” Zahm said.
Despite the new asphalt specially put in for this shuttle along Tingley Beach, the road so far to get the shuttle rolling has been a bumpy ride. “We also did have some mechanical issues and because it was made in Portugal, that’s where the engineers and some of the parts were so it did take quite a bit to get it up and running but now it’s working perfectly,” Zahm said.
The BioPark rolled out its new ride in April, offering people with combo tickets to the zoo, aquarium, and botanic garden the option to ride. The BioPark says they hope to expand the capabilities of this shuttle in the years to come, by adding more shuttles to their fleet and have it running most days of the week.
“The plan is in the future we’ll have a stop at Tingley Beach, right now we’re trying to keep it simple just zoo and aquarium/garden, but eventually yeah we want people to get off and explore the wildlife that’s literally in Albuquerque’s backyard,” Zahm said.
The shuttle runs Wednesday through Sunday from 9:30 am to 4:00 pm. “Right now, while we only have one driver on staff, we’re limited to five days a week but again the goal is to build up to that,” Zahm said.
People on the shuttle and on the ground tell News 13 it seems the new shuttle service is a success so far.
“This allows you to park in one spot and then visit all parts of the complex both the zoo and the aquarium and the botanical gardens,” sids Michael Horrell, who took his first shuttle ride with Zina Horrell on Wednesday.
“There’s been a lot of people on there going back and forth and they wave and stuff at us fishing here, you know? And we wave back and just mess around with them, you know? The guy rings the bell all happy,” said Thomas Anaya, who was fishing at Tingley Beach Wednesday.
The project, including two shuttles and infrastructure improvements like the repaving, cost $1.6 million so far.
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