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Linking Tahoe Transit Master Plan

The Lake Tahoe basin lacks a funding source to manage visitor activity. Mobility in the region is extremely challenging, and travel around the 72-mile shoreline is by two-lane roadways, public and private bus, and multiple private transport systems. Significant environmental constraints make expanding roadway capacity impossible, and with increasing peak-season congestion, policymakers wanted a more progressive approach to encourage transit use.

We developed a transit master plan as part of a larger multi-modal transportation plan to increase transit services around the lake. This became a detailed vision to achieve the goal of 20 percent transit mode share in 20 years, or ¡°20 in 20.¡±

Existing transit data was limited, so our team obtained and cultivated cell phone data. We utilized ArcGIS and Hot Spot Optimization, to learn that 24.5 million people visit the area annually¡ª98 percent of whom enter by car. Transit mode share is just 1.4 percent¡ªfar below the five percent regional goal to increase transit ridership by 2025.

We analyzed existing transit operations, services, mapping to identify underserved transit destinations. This allowed us to prioritize services, recommend adjustments, and target infrastructure improvements to address deficiencies in the entire multi-modal transportation system.

Stantec¡¯s Linking Tahoe Transit Master Plan and the Linking Tahoe Corridor Connection Plan together are a comprehensive multimodal transportation plan that provides the client with a greater understanding of the magnitude of trips and visitors traveling to the Lake Tahoe basin. Our recommendations for costs and time frames to implement are an incremental path forward to increase transit opportunities with immediate, short, mid- and long-term strategies.