Funding sought for Yosemite bus route
Sierra Star, Carmen George
(Updated: Thursday, March 03, 2011, 4:50 PM)
Fresno Council of Governments' Policy Board voted Feb. 24 to pursue funding for a proposed bus route to run from Fresno to Yosemite National Park.
The council, made up of Fresno city and county officials, contracted with transportation consultants within the last six months to conduct a study including the economic feasibility of the proposed route and transportation systems currently in place like the Yosemite Area Rural Transportation System, which runs from Merced to Yosemite five to six times daily. The study was presented to the council's Transportation Technical Committee and Policy Advisory Committee Feb. 11.
"It would be very surprising if this happens this year or next year," said John Downs, project manager for the study with Fresno Council of Governments regarding when buses may begin operating. "Really, it all depends on funding. If we manage to find some funding, we'd spend some time working with folks in Oakhurst to see if there was some kind of operating plan everyone could be happy with. It's one thing to conduct a study and another thing to put together the actual operating plan."
Proposed stops in the Mountain Area include Chukchansi Gold Resort and Casino, Oakhurst's Yosemite Visitor's Bureau, Tenaya Lodge, Wawona Hotel, Badger Pass Ski Area and other hotels and businesses along Highway 41 and Oakhurst. Stops will likely be no longer than 15 minutes long, but don't have to be confined to set bus stops, Downs said.
The proposed stops are still preliminary, he said, and will depend largely on where mountain residents want buses to stop. Locals can also buy tickets to ride from the Mountain Area to Fresno, he said.
To implement busing, the policy board also said it wants further assurance from Yosemite National Park that private vehicles won't be eliminated from the park -- a long-term goal that remains in the Yosemite 1980 General Management plan.
Downs said that means he'll likely need something in writing from the park service regarding private vehicles to give to the policy board later.
Instead of replacing private vehicles into the park, bus ridership will probably be small and mostly used by people that couldn't have driven to Yosemite on their own, including those who don't own cars, the handicapped and elderly, Downs said. Many park employees who live in the Mountain Area and already spend money locally would also benefit from a bus, he said.
The council would contract with an existing busing system, likely YARTS, which already has experience bussing into Yosemite along Highway 140 and Highway 120, Downs said. YARTS ticket fares currently cost $15 to $25. Average yearly operating costs are expected to be between $1.8 to $2.4 million, with not much extra anticipated for start-up costs because the council will contract with an existing bus system, Downs said.
Money from bus tickets covers about 23%of total operating costs for YARTS buses currently running into Yosemite, with the rest funded by federal grants and local sources. This heavy reliance on other sources of funding is common for public transportation systems, he said.
Likely sources for additional funding include the Federal Transit Administration, Yosemite National Park, and various federal and local grants from groups like the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, which has an interest in reducing vehicle emissions, Downs said.
Oakhurst Chamber of Commerce President Angelo Pizelo said he is concerned that the short bus stops won't give bus riders enough time to shop in the Mountain Area and that Fresno is trying to replace Oakhurst as the gateway to Yosemite. Pizelo said he is also concerned for the economic state of California and that pouring millions into a busing system that is "nebulous at best" doesn't seem like a good idea. He said he was surprised that he and the Chamber were not contacted to contribute to the study. Max Stauffer, Yosemite Sierra Visitor's Bureau president and owner of the Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad, said the bureau wasn't contacted either.
"We just have a lot of questions," said Kathy McCorry, executive director for the Chamber. "We have more questions than we do answers on this right now. We're mostly concerned with how it's going to be funded and ultimately who is really picking up the tab."
In 1999, the counties of Madera and Tuolumne voted to withdraw from a proposed YARTS bus line, with the Oakhurst Chamber of Commerce and the Yosemite Sierra Visitors Bureau both voting against the YARTS Highway 41 proposal.
"The maximum projected ridership will be less than 6% of the visitors coming up the 41 corridor," said Stauffer at the Feb. 24 meeting. "The taxpayers will have to subsidize this system for over 75% of its cost. Will Madera County be asked to contribute? The study indicates yes."
The Madera County Transportation Commission Policy Board stated it is opposed to the proposed bus route after reviewing the study and holding public comments at its Feb. 23 meeting.
Madera County Supervisor Frank Bigelow, also on the transportation board, said busing will not promote a meaningful experience for Mountain Area and Yosemite visitors. Busing will herd visitors between set locations like cattle, and will take away from leisurely travel time that helps the local economy, giving tourists more flexibility to shop and dine, Bigelow said.
"The line of communication between Fresno Council of Governments and Madera County just doesn't seem to be at its best performance to have a collaborative effort in resolving the issues between the two entities," Bigelow said.
At the Feb. 24 council meeting, Fresno's Policy Board requested to work more closely with Madera County and Oakhurst in the future.
Madera County Supervisor Tom Wheeler, also on Madera County's transportation board, said Fresno can run a bus to Yosemite with or without the support of the Mountain Area. Wheeler said he supports the proposed bus route and doesn't want Oakhurst to be bypassed when every dollar spent in town helps the local economy.
Bus riders can get off to shop and dine and wait for the next bus, he said.
If the proposed Oakhurst civic center with information about sites to visit around Eastern Madera County is built and becomes a bus stop, riders could also learn more about the area and visit Mountain Area destinations via local tour companies from that bus stop, he said. Wheeler said he'd be against private vehicles being eliminated from the park, but has been told by park officials that likelihood of that happening is slim.
"I don't know how many people in Oakhurst are in favor or opposed but we want to work with folks," Downs said. "If we get to the point of operation, I would like to think we could find a way to work with the community of Oakhurst and see if there is some way they can benefit from it as well."
The 68-page detailed study on the Fresno-Yosemite bus route is available on the Fresno Council of Governments website, fresnocog.org, by clicking on "Committees and Agendas" then "Policy Advisory Committee" and selecting the February agenda. The study is titled "Fresno NPS Draft Final Report."
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