Satellites will guide Lake Tahoe mass transit

Monday, April 7, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

Transportation officials, resort operators and environmentalists said they're encouraged by response to an around-the-lake bus system nearing the end of its first year of operation.

They said they also are optimistic because of plans to launch the nation's first on-demand, satellite-coordinated transit system on Tahoe's south shore next year.

"It's been a long wait but we're delighted," Rochelle Nason of the League to Save Lake Tahoe environmental group told the Reno Gazette-Journal.

"It's happening. That's the key," added Jim Baetge, executive director of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, which governs development at Tahoe.

The League to Save Lake Tahoe has long been critical of the slow pace of transit improvements it considers critical to protect Tahoe's deteriorating air and water quality.

But last summer's startup of the Lake Lapper bus service was a "huge step forward" toward eliminating Tahoe's traffic congestion and smog problem, Nason said.

Two buses circle the lake in opposite directions daily. For a fare of $5, riders can get off at 23 stops to hike, ski, shop or gamble, and later reboard another bus.

"It just seems like a good idea, a good way to see the lake," said rider Jorge Mordujovich of Miami. "I'm going to go all around the lake, stop and walk around."

Steve Forester of Incline Village said he began using the bus service to get to his job at Caesars Tahoe at Stateline when his car was in the repair shop. He said he's impressed with the service and plans to ride the bus after his car is fixed.

"I'm probably going to use it for a long time," Forester told the Gazette-Journal. "I think it's great."

Meanwhile, officials are optimistic the 1998 startup of the new transit system on Tahoe's south shore will further help reduce traffic congestion.

Plans call for all south shore shuttle vans and buses, both public and private, to become part of a single service using state-of-the-art computer technology.

Under the system, riders will use a phone or electronic kiosk to request a pickup. Satellites then will pinpoint the location of the nearest bus or van through a global positioning system linked to each vehicle, with a goal of a 10-minute response time or less.

"This has never been done up to this point," said Dick Powers of the South Tahoe Transportation Management Association. "This is a cutting-edge project."

"It's absolutely essential" if Tahoe is to compete against other destination resorts, added Steve Teshara of the Lake Tahoe Gaming Alliance, which represents Tahoe hotel-casinos.

Richard Hill, new director of the Tahoe Transportation District, said a Tahoe ferry system might work in five to 10 years as mass transit evolves at the lake.

Projected ridership wouldn't justify the high costs now, and Tahoe would be better served by efforts to coordinate bus and van systems around the lake, he said.

"We think our resources are better spent in other, more conventional means," Hill said.