Lake Link expands coverage in South Lake Tahoe and Douglas County

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Lake Link, the free on-demand micro-transit service on the South Shore of Lake Tahoe has expanded its service area. Lake Link launched in July 2022 and is operated by the South Shore Transportation Management Association (SSTMA).

As demand and funding have increased, so has the service area. The service isn't free to operate and is being funded through a collaboration of several public and private partnerships. El Dorado County, the City of South Lake Tahoe, the casinos and the South Tahoe Alliance of Resorts. Douglas County, and several businesses in South Lake Tahoe.

The on-demand service area now stretches from Grocery Outlet to the Round Hill Safeway, up Kingsbury to the Chart House, and down Pioneer Trail to Al Tahoe Blvd. and Lake Tahoe Community College.

It was created as part of the permit requirements of the new Tahoe Blue Event Center to get more people using micro-transit instead of their vehicles to get to Stateline. The service is being used for many other rides not going into Nevada as well.

In 2020, the Douglas County Board of Commissioners voted to use .5 percent to 1 person of the TOT collected within the Tahoe Douglas Transportation District to go to transit. Since then, SSTMA has had to go to the commissioners annually to ask for funding from Douglas County, up to their required amount.

Lake Link operates 365 days a year from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. (unless special hours are announced for some events). To use the service, download the app - instructions and more information is available here https://ss-tma.org/lake-link/.