INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev.— The Tahoe Transportation District will have a public hearing with the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency to asses if there will be a six month extension on the special use permit needed to host the East Shore Trail Shuttle at the old elementary school on Southwood Blvd. 

TTD District Manager Carl Hasty is looking forward to being able to address many of the concerns that have been raised by community members about having the shuttle at the site. 

“We going to come back and answer their questions and seek to get started here,” said Hasty. 

---

---

The shuttle is currently not running, but will potentially begin to run following the approval of the extension by the TRPA at their meeting that will start no earlier than 9 a.m. Wednesday, June 28. 

Assuming the extension is approved, the shuttle would most likely begin to run before the end of June. 

---

---

Hasty explained that the TRPA governing board requested that the TTD go back and make some changes to the shuttle system in order to address traffic concerns, along with concerns about over-ridership and illegal parking. 

“Last year we only ran one bus and year’s prior we’d run two,” said Hasty. “But even with one bus, we had a ridership over 29,000.” 

Changes the TRPA recommended including reducing the capacity of the bus, along with adding a few more attendants and creating better communication between park personnel and the TTD staff. 

Other improvements that the TTD will make this year will include directing more overflow traffic to the new elementary school rather than on the streets of Southwood Blvd and Northwood Blvd, as well as keeping dumpsters accessible on the property and continuing communication with the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office to curb illegal parking. 

Hasty explained that one change that happened last year included the opening of the gates at the old elementary school at 7 a.m., which helped to alleviate cars building up on the streets outside the site.

Previously the gates opened when the shuttle began to run at 10 a.m., which caused tons of people looking to use the shuttle to park on the neighboring streets. 

“This is the reason for adapting and the TRPA agreeing to open the gates earlier,” said Hasty. “So folks could park on the school site in the designated locations, and we can have somebody there if that gets really full. We do have overflow parking at the new elementary school, which is where we’ve done it for years now.” 

To watch the TRPA governing board meeting, visit http://www.trpa.gov/meeting-materials.