New buses to run daily from downtown Banff to Moraine Lake during larch season

New transit service from Banff will make it easier for people wanting to visit Moraine Lake for the larch viewing season this year.

Roam Public Transit is launching a new, direct route from downtown Banff to Moraine Lake, which is about a 70-kilometre trip, one-way.

The buses will run seventimes a day from Sept. 23 to Oct. 14.

"With our departures starting as early as 6:30 a.m., we're appealing to both the hikers that want to be out there for the longer day and the sightseers that would like to go a little later in the morning and only spend a couple hours out there," saidMartin Bean with the Bow Valley Regional Transit Services Commission.

He said Roam is also extending its summer schedule for several other routes, due to high demand.

Parks Canada says the service is helping to reduce traffic congestion in and around Banff.

Moraine Lake is especially popular in the summer as well as in the fall, when the needles turn yellow on larch trees in the surrounding forest.

"Throughout the summer, traffic is limited up and down the Moraine Lake Road because the parking lot fills so early," Bean said.

"So, often people are waiting a long time or else choosing alternate destinations. And with this transit service going out, people can ride out there and be dropped right at the lake shore and not have to worry about finding a parking spot."

Parks Canada also runs shuttle servicesto Moraine Lake from nearby Lake Louise.