Public: Transit on South Shore failing riders
Some BlueGo stops have shelters, but none uses the words “bus stop”. Photos/LTN
By Kathryn Reed
Public transportation on the South Shore is a nightmare that is not serving those who need it most.
That was the message delivered by nearly two dozen people on Sept. 30 to Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and Tahoe Transportation District personnel. The purpose of the meeting was to gather information about unmet transit needs.
When asked what happens after Wednesday’s meeting, Judy Weber, TRPA associate transportation planner, said a report would be written. Then it would be decided what short- and long-range items, if any, could be tackled. Short range was defined as up to five years.
Basically, the workshop was convened to mark off an obligation of the bi-state agency’s transportation protocols.
El Dorado County Supervisor Sue Novasel joined the meeting an hour after it started and just before it ended. She is on the TTD board, but said she didn’t know about the meeting until someone at the Soroptimist gathering that day asked her about it.
Bus riders are supposed to know this bench with a BlueGo sign is a stop.
Some in the room, especially those associated with the Kelly Ridge housing complex, said they might not be around in five years if that’s how long it takes for change to happen.
An obstacle to getting anything done is money.
Weber said the BlueGo bus system on the South Shore is now almost exclusively funded by the federal government via pass-throughs to California and Nevada. Douglas County puts in money. Vail Resorts pays TTD to provide free bus service to Heavenly Mountain Resort on certain routes – mainly the ones servicing lodging properties. There was a time when South Lake Tahoe, El Dorado County, the casinos and Ridge Tahoe supported the bus system.
The Kelly Ridge residents and administration wonder why the bus stop that used to be outside the South Lake Tahoe senior-disabled housing complex was eliminated.
Lake Tahoe Community College students and faculty asked why a bus services the South Lake Tahoe institution every other hour instead of more often.
The on-demand service is unreliable, many said. They added that it is expensive.
Garry Bowen, top right, asks why maps can’t be created for the bus shelters so people know where each line goes.
Others expressed concerns about inconsistent schedules.
It was pointed out that tourists could get from Stateline to the Y, but that the trolley then only goes a short way past Emerald Bay. Plus, the time to transfer is extremely short. There is no opportunity to access the beaches in Nevada via public transit.
Some wanted to know why something like the East Shore Express in Incline Village isn’t used on the South Shore to provide access to beaches.
Several asked about creating a transfer program.
Meyers doesn’t even have public transit anymore. Getting to Reno is not easy. Bus service is not available 24 hours even though this is a 24-hour community. Additional buses are not added during peak hours or days.
Tapping into Lake Tahoe Unified’s well-oiled bus system was broached.
Others wanted to know why some bus shelters are covered and other are not, as well as why some have seats and some don’t.
Bus stops don’t have their name on them. Routes are not listed at the stops. Schedules aren’t at the stops and not all buses have them on board. The signs just say BlueGo – not even bus. For those who don’t know what a BlueGo is, it makes it even more difficult. Then there is the fact that more buses are coming online that don’t say BlueGo; they say Tahoe Transportation District.
The result of a bus system that does not meet riders’ needs is that it is pushing people into vehicles – which goes against TRPA’s air and water quality thresholds.
It is a shame that they removed the bus stop from in front of the Kelly Ridge Senior Housing Project (just off Pioneer Trail)! The TTD needs to have some senior citizens at the decision table! Also, they should return the Door-to-Door service for EVERYONE without a 24-hour reservation requirement, since the bus does not go into most South Lake Tahoe neighborhoods. The closest bus stop to my house is 13 blocks away — not an easy walk for a senior, especially in winter!
Also, my 2-cents ….. The name “Blue-Go”, like “Tahoe South” both sound like the decision-makers don’t speak good English! Why don’t we call it “****”… South Lake Urban Transportation? At least it makes sense :-)
Easily the most disorganized, dysfunctional transit outfit I’ve seen.
It is just about the most worthless transit system I’ve ever seen. Down in Mammoth, we used theirs every day, easily. On the Island of Oahu, NEVER used a car; you could get anywhere you needed to be on the whole island within a ten minute target time. Resorts in Colorado were easy to maneuver around as well.
SLT’s bus system shouldn’t even exist. It costs WAY more than any service it provides.
In the 60’s we had Tahoe Transit. The bus made a loop from Stateline to the Y once every hour and it was very reliable. The current system is a joke – especially for a community that relies on tourism.
And I agree the name Blue Go is completely ineffective and inappropriate.
Bus drivers who don’t feel it is a priority to follow a printed schedule. At least a 1 1/2 hour wait at the Y transit center for a bus during the July 4th holiday. This is the only international resort area I know of that doesn’t encourage public transit. Ever wonder why this place doesn’t land the Olympics. Some resorts don’t even allow autos.
Some places claim the economy improves when there is no fare charge to public transit riders.
Definitely some improvements to service the last few years such as better snow removal at stops. During peak times the bus appears very effective before 11 am almost always. BUT, ever wonder why some people call it nogo. Kick em while they are down should be a nogo motto.
It is rather clear tthat locals have not been, and still aren’t, a priority for our elected officials.
In the 80’s the bus system in the south shore was run by the city and it was good. Although I lived in Tahoe Paradise (Meyers) I rode the bus a lot, it ran every half hour from the “Y” to Stateline and back. I would take a bus to the “Y”, call a Taxi at Winchell’s doughnuts, take that the rest of the way, or walk.
Those little Mercedes-Benz busses handled the snow, and they were the right size, rarely so full people had to stand. They renamed it South Tahoe Area Ground Express, it took nearly twenty years to see that branding any where.
The signs still said “Bus Stop”, and maybe a few benches had “South Tahoe Area Ground Express”, instead of “STAGE STOP”. Dial-a-ride started back then and it was great. I could now get from Meyers to any destination on the South Shore for $3., door to door.
The few times I have taken the bus in the past few years, it just seems too long to wait. The bus running once an hour on Lake Tahoe Boulevard, is not serving the people who need it. There were a few times I was going to take the bus and walked or took a taxi, because I didn’t want to wait an hour for the bus.
How about a tax on bus fares to subsidize the transportation needs of non-bus riders?
You can go from the “y” to gardnerville or Carson but not to Meyers?!… WTF?!!!!!!
‘An obstacle to getting anything done is money.’ Money is always an obstacle to getting things done. The money gets found when the ‘anything'(whatever it is, becomes a priority.
The TTD is spending their grant money and public funding on the feasibility of the loop road, consultants and large salary’s. For as much as they tout getting transportation up and running for the last 20 years or so and all the money they have received one would think that we would have something feasible by now. Perhaps it is time for some serious accountability and serious management changes.
hmmmmm, regarding money, as I pointed out in response to THIS article recently (https://www.laketahoenews.net/2015/09/new-calif-water-bond-seeks-to-plug-funding-holes/) when it comes to publicly funded projects, there is NEVER enough money. No matter what promises your politicians make. It is always too little funding.
(funny nobody else seemed to notice that little article about wanting MORE money for the water projects. . .)
Kenny you are right again. Carl Hastings and the TTD don’t want busses, they want the loop road and all the studies that give them longer to draw those big salaries. We were better off with the city, casinos, Heavenly, Tahoe Queen and Dixie doing the transportation. An audit of the TTD would be very interesting.
Some local bigwig is going to tell us we DO need an outside consultant to study this and make a recommendation to the TRPA and TTD regarding their upcoming recommendation. That way the can can get kicked down the road til some little old lady gets hit by a car and they get to all feign outrage and wonder how this could possibly have happened.
What we are living in is the death spiral of capitalism, where untrammeled greed is allowed to co-opt public policy decisions, where the revolving door of politics, corporate money and lobbyism gang rapes society into lack and need, blaming thee poor, the elderly and the handicapped for their own lot in life while they steal food out of babies mouths.
People like Dog and Kits are going to chime in about now, screeching about the perils of liberalism and compassion…Righties need to be honest about their disdain for the non-rich; the elderly, the handicapped and the poor DON’T COUNT TO THEM. They would rather have them just go away, but they don’t have the ballsto come ut and say ‘let’s just shoot them and be done with it.’
Hmmm, you need to learn some definitions. Our current system is NOT capitalism. It’s far closer to fascism than to a free market economy. With a smattering of socialism to keep it interesting.
With as much regulation, taxation, social engineering as our government already does, it’s mind baffling how you think we need more.
You know, this article and the article about the Hwy. 89 project eliminating parking, go hand in hand – if we had an awesome public transit system here in town and all the way around the lake, folks wouldn’t need so many parking spaces along 89. Folks wouldn’t need so many parking spaces PERIOD. Clearer air and water, safer roadways, happier locals and fewer confused visitors… you’d think this would be a top priority.
As one who knows. I would bet that the ridge still pays for 23 route service. If not why do ridge guests ride for free? A way to go is are the casinos required to buy in to transportation. Douglas pays to go into the Carson Valley. So to increase service to Meyers should not El Dorado County kick in? Ever since STATA went down transportation has been in the dumps on the South Shore.
No blame but fund public transit to where it should be. The city and the County should have funds for transit, and where is the state?
Gosh Dogula….please educate me….
Hmmmm, don’t you have a dictionary?
Dog, I have heard a number of wacky batsh*t crazy ideas from you, but this one takes the cake. You will be hard pressed to find any credible economists that will come to your defense. Maybe you can get Alex Jones to scream “false flag” for you, but government regulations are not inherently counter to capitalism. Even the most conservative academic scholar finds a place for government and regulations within a functioning capitalist system. Their debate is not should government and taxes be involved, but how much. Your idea of a lack of a capitalistic system in the U.S. and the west will come as a real surprise to Apple, Google and Facebook or the 1%, or the fact that income inequality is at an all time high and by many rich folk estimation unsustainable.
Here is one of a few hundred thousand sites I could direct you to, but I suspect it would be a waste. You represent the 1/100th of 1% crazy people.
http://www.economicshelp.org/blog/glossary/capitalist-economic-system/
Rick
Why yes, Dogula, I do have a dictionary(actually, I have a couple, as well as using online dictionaries). I also know how to read them, and how to consider what I’ve read, separating the wheat from the chaff, so to speak. I also know how to read between the lines, and can also extrapolate logical consequences of current choices and behaviors.
For the sake of space I am including just the first entry for each of your hallowed words.
cap·i·tal·ism
/ˈkapədlˌizəm/
noun
1.
an economic and political system in which a country’s trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state.
so·cial·ism
/ˈsōSHəˌlizəm/
noun
1.
a political and economic theory of social organization that advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole.
fas·cism
/ˈfaSHˌizəm/
noun
noun: fascism, plural noun: Fascisms
1.
an authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization.
Source: Oxford Dictionaries.
Here’s a few more words I found that may be of interest to you when you look at your scowling face in the mirror: curmudgeon, misanthrope, delusional. You want that I should include their definitions?
Maybe the TTD should stop wasting money studying worthless ferry service.
Also did the buses run for free on major holidays this summer? I didn’t see it advertised this year.
When it was free I would take it from the Y to Stateline twice a summer just to see how many tourists used the line=0.
Hmmm, unfortunatly dogzilla dosent get anything except hateful ignorance, which she excells in…
hmmm, Nice. Someone had to do it. One more that is so obviously and uniquely applicable to the United States is liberalism:
Liberalism is a political philosophy or worldview founded on ideas of liberty and equality.
If you don’t like liberty or equality, there are plenty of countries that don’t like them either. The United States isn’t one of them. It is apparent to me that “conservatives” don’t particularly like liberty or equality either.
I was intimately involved in some of the shenanigans with the Transit bureaucracy when it wasted a fortune on the scheduling system from Canada. They were determined to spend more money than they had for a system that wouldn’t work. I never figured out why.
Nogo came through again today. The 53 9:45 departure from the Y refused to stop at the college. Finest use of tax $s, getting students to college late, if at all.