Reducing National Park Crowding: A Market Design Approach

Abstract

The United States National Park System has become increasingly crowded in the past decade, and it may soon be necessary to cap admission to national parks. Using concepts from matching theory, I examine the possible implications of visitor caps and propose two new policies for visitor admissions. I show that by dividing parks into smaller units and introducing a centralized admissions system, it is possible to improve admissions outcomes for both visitors and parks. The division of parks into smaller pieces allows more visitors to be admitted without increasing crowding, and visitors are happier with their resulting assignments. When a centralized admission system is introduced along with the park divisions, visitors receive an assignment they weakly prefer to all assignments they could receive through a decentralized system. I present simulations which demonstrate that the improvements under the proposed policy changes are significant.