El Dorado County pulls out of Tahoe bus agency

By Kathryn Reed

Not only is the South Shore bus agency losing vehicles, it has lost a member.

El Dorado County no longer is part of South Tahoe Area Transportation Authority.

“A registered letter was sent (July 29) to participating agencies,” county Supervisor Norma Santiago told Lake Tahoe News on Wednesday. “We are working out the details of service for our constituents.”

El Dorado County's buses are parked indefinitely. Photo/Kathryn Reed

She believes 15-20 people in the Meyers area regularly ride public transit. There are also people with physical issues who used the on-call bus service.

For two hours the supervisors last week discussed what to do with public transit in the basin. The lack of an insurance certificate and other concerns resulted in the county pulling its two buses out of the fleet.

Santiago said the fourth lawsuit filed by MV Transportation was the final straw for her and her colleagues.

The remaining members of STATA are South Lake Tahoe, Douglas County, Harveys, Harrah’s, MontBleu, Horizon, Lakeside, Heavenly, Ridge Tahoe, Tahoe Transportation District, and Tahoe Regional Planning Agency. TRPA is a non-voting member of STATA.

The regular board meeting for this Friday has been postponed to Friday the 13th.