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Tahoe shuttle returns: Board backs expanded Emerald Bay pilot and parking management
Summary
The board heard a presentation on the Emerald Bay shuttle and parking‑management pilot, which Middlebrook said carried nearly 5,000 riders in 2025; supervisors supported expanding service for Memorial Day–Labor Day 2026, adding stops and parking management while seeking state and regional grant support.
Devin Middlebrook, a Tahoe Regional Planning Agency official, told the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors that the Emerald Bay shuttle and parking‑management pilot will return for 2026 with expanded days, stops and enforcement measures. Middlebrook said the 2025 pilot was “a success, with nearly 5,000 riders taking the shuttle,” and that partners want a larger, earlier season to better match visitor demand.
The board received details of the 2026 plan: operation from Memorial Day (May 25) through Labor Day (Sept. 7), a $5 one‑way fare ($10 round trip) with discounts for seniors, veterans and people with disabilities, expanded weekday and weekend hours, and daily service at the Y transit center. Middlebrook described a package of parking‑management tactics that included temporary barriers to block about 50 roadside spaces used in 2025, additional signage and coordinated enforcement with the California Highway Patrol to limit dangerous roadside parking.
Why it matters: supervisors framed the pilot as a corridor‑wide solution to safety, congestion and access along State Route 89. The program aims both to reduce illegal and hazardous roadside parking and to provide a transit alternative that preserves public access to Emerald Bay without adding permanent pavement. Middlebrook said partners include Caltrans (road safety audits and planned infrastructure), the Air Quality Management District, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA), Placer County, the Tahoe Fund and California State Parks, which is assessing a longer‑term rebuild of the Vikingsholm parking lot.
Board discussion centered on enforcement authority, consistency with neighboring jurisdictions and potential state legislation to raise parking fines. Supervisor Parlin emphasized local limits on fines: “To go any higher than that to increase the fines, we need state legislation,” and urged legislative outreach. Middlebrook said county and legislative staff had previously sought clarity from legislative staff and found counties have room to set fines, but agreed supervisors may pursue advocacy for better enforcement tools.
What’s next: the board voiced support for the 2026 pilot and asked staff to continue coordinating outreach and reservation portal information. Middlebrook offered to work with county public information staff to advertise the reservation portal when it opens, and supervisors encouraged adopting measures the county can replicate elsewhere in the system.
Representative quote: “That program was a success, with nearly 5,000 riders taking the shuttle,” Middlebrook said, urging continued county support for the corridor effort.
The board did not take a separate vote on funding during the presentation; partners and staff will return with operational details and outreach plans as reservation and enforcement arrangements are finalized.
