City Council commits over $850,000 to microtransit in South Lake Tahoe
Submitted by paula on Tue, 02/14/2023 - 11:22pm
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The successful multi-agency partnership that brought Lake Link Microtransit Service to South Lake Tahoe and Stateline will be continuing. The City of South Lake Tahoe contributed $150,000 for the 2022-23 pilot year, and the city council Tuesday committed another $200,000 - $150,000 for the 2023-24 service year, and $50,000 for the remainder of the fiscal year 2023 since the original agreement ended in June, the city's fiscal year ends September 30.
Lake Link Microtransit Service, a free on-demand program, was launched in the summer of 2022 as a public-private partnership of the South Shore Transportation Management Association (SS/TMA).
From the launch through December, ridership has gone from 3,558 to 11,800 with a high monthly ridership of 12,403 in August, for a total of 57,515.
City Council also committed $662,500 toward the expansion of this service.
The current service zone encompasses a three-mile area that extends from Kingsbury/Stateline in Nevada to the Al Tahoe/LTCC neighborhoods in California. The additional funding will go toward expanding the service territory to the remainder of the city limits, further enhancing a popular on-demand mobility option.
This additional funding commitment is intended to be used as seed money toward further fundraising toward the total $3.25M estimated total cost of the expanded service area.
“Continuation of the current service and potential expansion to the full city limits represents a tremendous milestone for transit operations and mobility options in the South Shore, benefitting our workforce, those without a vehicle and those wanting to do their part in reducing vehicle miles traveled," said Raymond Suarez, the Executive Director of SS/TMA. "We are incredibly grateful to the City of South Lake Tahoe for being a regional leader in transportation for all.”
“The City strongly believes in ensuring transit opportunities for residents and visitors, and this funding commitment clearly demonstrates that transit is, and will remain, a top priority,” stated City Manager Joe Irvin.
Other partners include El Dorado County, Douglas County, South Tahoe Alliance of Resorts, the Lake Tahoe Visitor’s Authority, Lake Tahoe Community College, and a number of hotels and businesses in the Stateline area of California and Nevada.
The service started with four vehicles, two of which are 9-passenger vans and two are 8-passenger vans with wheelchair accessibility and bike racks. They recently added a fifth vehicle into the rotation to keep up with demand. Hours of operation are currently Sun-Sat 7 a.m. - 9 p.m. The SS/TMA board continually evaluates service levels and hours.