Bus business booms

It takes something substantial for people to ditch their cars for public transportation.

But record-high gas prices, among other things, have done it. More people in North Lake Tahoe are riding the bus.

“Well, sure. Why wouldn’t I?” Incline resident Bill Frey said as he took a senior citizen seat in the front of the bus Monday. “I have so many places to go.”

Last fiscal year, which ended last month, 433,628 passengers used the Placer County-operated Tahoe Area Regional Transit buses — a 19 percent increase from the previous year.

It is also the first year TART exceeded 400,000 passengers.

“The recent surge in ridership is largely due to high gasoline prices,” Placer County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jim Holmes said in a release. “But Public Works deserves a lot of credit for providing reliable, convenient service that meets the public’s needs.”

Ridership increased since the county offered more services such as additional drivers, buses and routes that make the service more convenient, 15-year bus driver Ed Loudenclos said. But high gas prices are a major contributing factor.

“I’m riding the bus because I have a truck that gets 9 miles per gallon,” West Shore resident Rusty Young said Monday. “I’m doing it just to be eco-friendly — to my wallet. I’m trying to save my wallet and the planet.”

Besides shopping in Kings Beach, Young said he didn’t have any plans for his day off, but was ready to go wherever the bus and his bike would take him.

“I’m just going on a little mini adventure,” he said.

Young has lived in Tahoe for 27 years, but rode TART for the first time this past winter. He became so excited about public transportation, and about the pretty ladies that rode the bus, that his friends bought him a one-week bus pass for Christmas. But all jokes aside, Young said he rides the bus whenever he is not working, and not only because of the good looking passengers, but because of the helpful drivers, safe atmosphere and cheap prices.

“Every day off, I get on the bus, just because of the gas thing,” he said.

Young bought a day pass for $3.50 Monday. He said it would have cost him nearly $20 to drive himself. And he is not the only person saving money by using public transportation.

The county tracks riders on a monthly basis, so numbers are not in yet for July, but Public Works Manager Will Garner said this month’s ridership was up about 5 percent from last year when he checked more than a week ago.

On a typical summer day, between 1,000 and 1,300 people ride the natural-gas-powered TART buses and 300 to 400 hop on the trolleys.

“We’ve quadrupled the ridership since 1998 [when the county took over the system] for trolleys,” Garner said.

Tahoe Vista resident Phyllis Adams has seen the public transportation system grow. She has been riding the bus for about 30 years and often takes the bus to Incline Village to work, go to church or square dance. She has never owned a driver’s license.

“Now, with the price of gas, I don’t even want a car,” she said.

Adams said she has noticed more people taking the bus.

“I think I’ve seen a little more ridership than before,” she said. “I’d like to see more.”

Riding public transportation to work is a growing trend, Garner said, and more people are learning about the buses.

In June, the county’s transit-related Web pages were viewed 49,040 times. That is a 16 percent increase from May, an 83 percent increase from April and almost a 250 percent increase from December.

Loudenclos, a full-time driver, said he took a break from his normal route to drive the Tahoe City trolley last week, and based on the riders’ questions, he guessed about 70 percent of the passengers were first-time riders.

Kings Beach resident Kali Kopley said she rides TART about once a week to support public transportation. She owns a business in Squaw and is an advocate of keeping regular bus schedules, even in the off season, so that her employees can easily ride TART to work year-round.

Kopley said she enjoys riding the bus, and the ride gives her time to read the newspaper. Other bus riders also expressed their support for TART Monday.

“I love TART,” Frey said. “I love the bus drivers. They’re so reliable. Ed is one of my favorite drivers.”

Frey has been riding TART regularly since May because he has a detached retina in his right eye that affects his vision. He said TART is dependable.

“This is the best business in Lake Tahoe — the TART bus.”