2024 Short Range Transit Plan
Background
The U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration, requires that transit providers undertake a short-range planning process every five to seven years.
The Tahoe Transportation District (TTD) has begun the update for their Short-Range Transit Plan, and TTD is creating this webpage to solicit public comments during the process.
The TTD Board approved the most recent Short-Range Transit Plan (SRTP) on October 13, 2017, and it was amended on December 15, 2017. Since 2017, service has undergone significant changes and operational conditions (labor, funding, regulatory, and capital) have continued to evolve.
Significant goals for the 2017 SRTP were to reach a twenty-percent transit mode split target within twenty years; garner a sixty-million-dollar revenue stream; establish a regional control center; address parking deficits; develop mobility hubs and introduce a “free fare” transit service where appropriate.
TTD championed the implementation of the 2017 Transit Master Plan, and the 2017 Short-Range Transit Plan was the first installment of the twenty-year commitment to transit improvements in and around the Lake Tahoe Basin/region. The 2017 SRTP was developed within the context of the Long-Range Transit Plan and Linking Tahoe: Lake Tahoe Transit Master Plan (TMP), which is aimed at implementing a new vision for transit. According to detailed cell phone data from 2017, visitors account for 75 percent of all vehicle trips made to the region. This magnitude of visitation translated into a considerable number of vehicles congesting the transportation network. Infrastructure, then and now, will increasingly be no longer able to handle this volume of vehicles.
Purpose
The purpose of the Short-Range Transit Plan is to do the following:
- Examine the transit service, operations, and management to meet the base level of service
- Identify operating and capital needs, service plans, and budgets over a five-year horizon.
- Establish a cost-constrained five-year financial plan to ensure the viability public transit.
- Identify the service types and service areas that should be provided within the TTD service area including a review of services that no longer operate, seasonal services, and new types of services
- Identify those services that should be provided, as a minimum, by TTD
- Identify services that should be considered in the future
- Identify the types of services that match with three different user groups – Local residents, Commuters coming into the Lake Tahoe Basin for work, and visitors
Goals
The goal/s of this project is to create a usable SRTP to guide transit decisions over the next five years addressing, improving, and upgrading the following items if/when determined based on close analyses of:
- Service Types
- Service Areas
- Matching Services to User Types
- Determine the Base Level of Service for TTD
The pandemic impacted transit operations, along with travel behaviors of residents and visitors alike. A new Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) recognizes the need for a regional funding source and the challenges in meeting Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) and Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG) reductions. The revised RTP will explore how technology, such as micro transit on-demand scheduling, as well as water transit, could leverage established service models and create new opportunities.
Another goal is to engage the public in the development process of the SRTP through online workshops, social media, eblasts, FAQs, project webpage, and one-on-one correspondences.
Partners
- Federal Transit Administration
- Caltrans
- Carson City
- City of South Lake Tahoe
- Douglas County NV
- El Dorado County
- NDOT
- Lake Tahoe Community College
- TRPA/TMPO
- US Forest Service
- Washoe County
Location
TTD operates fixed-route public transit on the south shore of Lake Tahoe and an extended complementary paratransit service. TTD also operates commuter services between the south shore and Minden/Gardnerville, and Carson City, NV. During the summer, TTD operates a park and ride service from Incline Village to Sand Harbor State Park.
Public Input
Notice of public meetings and link and details for online participation.
Upcoming meetings:
- Coming soon.
For more information and/or to offer input, please email SRTP@TahoeTransportation.org