If you’ve been around Lake Tahoe for any length of time, you know it should never be taken for granted. Seeing the burst of blue of the lake as you drive over one of the basin’s summits is like stepping into a postcard come to life.
On some days, though, driving around Tahoe’s mountain roads can be challenging and sitting in construction traffic frustrating. It helps to remember that transportation in Tahoe is about more than getting from one place to another. What happens on our roads directly affects lake clarity. Stormwater runoff from roadways can carry fine sediment and pollutants into tributaries and ultimately Lake Tahoe. Connected transportation options and projects on the ground ultimately reduce the number of cars on our roads, improve safety, and protect the environment.
Along with the pressure of Tahoe’s popularity, transportation improvements and a more sustainable approach to outdoor recreation are starting to be seen throughout the region. Through the Lake Tahoe Environmental Improvement Program, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) and Team Tahoe partners are helping people enjoy Tahoe without losing what makes it special, especially in Tahoe’s busiest recreation corridors.
In the State Route 89 corridor around Emerald Bay, the Tahoe City-Truckee-Kings Beach triangle, and the State Route 28 corridor on the East Shore, we are seeing better parking management, more transit service and stops, safer pedestrian crossings, and projects to connect, extend, and improve trails.
Local workers and visitors are proving people will opt for a sustainable way to experience Tahoe when given a choice. In 2025, Lake Tahoe transit services combined provided more than 1.2 million rides. This summer, ridership on the new Emerald Bay Shuttle reached nearly 6,000, and the East Shore Express saw its highest ridership ever, providing more than 40,000 free rides in the State Route 28 corridor. Better managed parking and transit reduce congestion and stress and allow residents and visitors to enjoy a picture-perfect day.
Improving Tahoe’s transportation system is a big job, and there is more work to be done. Shifting the paradigm of how people get around doesn’t happen overnight, but more pieces and projects fall into place every year. It isn’t just Tahoe’s majestic vistas we shouldn’t take for granted. We can also be grateful for the repaving projects that protect the lake and smooth our roads, the dozens of funding sources Team Tahoe provides, and the projects on the ground that are fulfilling the vision of a safe, reliable, connected transportation system.
You may have grown accustomed to the roundabouts in Kings Beach and Meyers, the Tahoe City bypass, and Complete Streets projects throughout South Lake Tahoe, but these completed transportation improvements exemplify how patience and perseverance pay off.
Let’s make the most of the momentum. If you can, I encourage you to jump on a bus, explore a new trail, and download the transit app at TransitApp.com to see how easy free, fixed-route and on-demand microtransit are today. The TRPA Governing Board will get to feel the momentum themselves next week. After its regular meeting Wednesday, September 23 the Board will tour much of the work happening in the East Shore corridor and yes, we’ll be traveling by bus.
-By Julie W. Regan
Julie W. Regan is Executive Director of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.