Public bus from South Shore to Carson City may be cut due to lack of funding

Unless a new source of funding comes through, the Tahoe Transportation District Board is going to cut the 21x bus line from the South Shore to Carson City starting October 2.

A key piece of funding for the transit system was cut when federal highway officials changed Lake Tahoe from a rural area to an urban area. In some ways, the change helped the area get better funding due to the number of people who drive in the Lake Tahoe basin on an annual basis, then in other ways, the designation hurt. Funding for the 21x bus line has been eliminated because it cannot be used on transportation from one urban area to another. It was only good if one end of the bus line was rural, as Lake Tahoe once was labeled.

The board had to give notice Friday so partner agencies and riders can prepare for the worse case scenario that the bus line will be eliminated.

"It's not in our best interest to cu the line," said TTD District Manager Carl Hasty. "We want to connect Tahoe to the outside."

The $1 million dollars it is estimated to run the 21x bus line annually could come from action in Washington, DC, but officials said they couldn't count on that coming in time for the October 1 deadline.

Placer County (on the North Shore) isn't affected by the urban designation change because portions of the area's sales tax funds transportation.

Hasty said they are still trying to get funding to keep the bus line which had about 25,000 one-way trips the last 12 months.

Many of the passengers are Carson City residents who work in the casinos at the lake, Douglas County School District employees as well as others that go down for needed dialysis treatments.

"A significant number of our employees use that bus line year round," said John Packard of Harrah's and Harvey's. "Stateline casinos would be impacted. A lack of workforce housing in Tahoe has forced many off the hill."

Hasty told the Board that the 19 and 20 bus lines that link the Carson Valley to the South Shore may need to be adjusted as well, but exactly what changes aren't known as of yet as it will depend on TTD finding new funding for the 21x bus line.