Knowledge Resources

The South Lake Tahoe Coordinated Transit System (CTS) was implemented as a means of reducing congestion, protecting the environment and earning mitigation credits for redevelopment in the Lake Tahoe region. Through combining transit services offered by private and public sector stakeholders into one centrally dispatched operation that uses intelligent transportation system (ITS) technologies, the CTS would also improve transit efficiency and create a more visitor friendly transit system. The CTS project spans the jurisdiction of two counties in two states, as well as one city, and incorporates the private transit resources of five casinos and one ski resort, with the aim of serving the market objectives of both the public and private sectors.

A U.S. DOT evaluation report summarized the findings from a system impact study that focused primarily on assessing the impacts on ridership, customer satisfaction and operating efficiency of the CTS.

• Interviews with shuttle drivers and dispatchers revealed that:
  • Drivers saw the largest benefit in receiving automated trip changes through their Mobile Data Terminals (MDTs).
  • Dispatchers saw the biggest benefits in the ability to relay real-time vehicle location information to customers and in having some kiosk trip requests automatically assigned by the CAD system.
• A customer survey also revealed that in general, customers appear to be as satisfied with the casino shuttle service as they were with the independent casino shuttles that operated pre-CTS. Customers are generally satisfied with the operation of the service (wait time, travel time, and number of stops to pick up and drop off other passengers) as well as with the cost of the service and the trip-booking technologies.

Transit operators and dispatchers felt that the new technology provided good capabilities for future service expansion but felt that the scheduling capabilities provided were less than optimal for such a small demand-responsive service (five vehicles).