Lake Link celebrated its first year in service in July. Tahoe Daily Tribune photo
Last month, micro-transit service Lake Link celebrated its first year, providing rides to 141,200 people using the app-based ride service.
The total exceeds the original goal by more than 20,000 riders.
A third of the riders surveyed were locals, a third were overnight visitors and the remainder described themselves as day-trippers, or seasonal visitors-renters, according to survey results provided by Executive Manager Raymond Suarez of the South Shore Transportation Management Association.
Integrating Lake Link with the Tahoe Transportation District’s fixed route is still in need of some work, with around 28 percent of users indicating they transferred between the two systems, Suarez said.
Preliminary discussions with the city have begun for expansion toward the ‘Y’ as well.
Suarez acknowledged the hourly transit schedule is “not good enough.”
The Association is working with the Tahoe Transportation District, and Tahoe Regional Protection Agency, as well as the City of South Lake Tahoe to expand the service area.
Expanding too soon without sustainable funding could mean trouble for the service in the long term.
“What we’re doing with the conversation with the TTD, TRPA, and the city is finding what’s the best way to expand. We affect people who take jobs if we’re not able to sustain it,” Suarez said.
Funding for the micro-transit was the subject of debate in Douglas County over its service to Nevadans at the Lake.
Douglas County Commissioner Sharla Hales is the liaison with the association. According to Suarez, Douglas County and the Tahoe Transportation District are discussing expanding the route to Round Hill Pines.
“The federal-state pot of money isn’t getting any bigger, so we have to figure out how to best leverage public and private funding options to deliver the best service possible,” Suarez said.
The micro-transit system was one of the requirements the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency placed on the Tahoe Blue Event Center being constructed at Stateline to reduce event traffic in the corridor.
