Two-year Test of Yosemite Bus Plan to Begin in May Challenge will be convincing park visitors to leave their cars behind. By Charles McCarthy The Fresno Bee - October 2, 1999 A controversial program to bus day visitors into Yosemite National Park from gateway communities such as Mariposa and El Portal will begin a wo-year public test on Memorial Day weekend next year. The idea behind the Yosemite Area Regional Transportation Strategy, or YARTS, is to convince park visitors that it's more fun to leave their cars and pay a modest fare to relax on buses, a group of YARTS organizers said this week in Fresno. "If YARTS were to fail the next step will be to simply limit cars coming into the park," Yosemite spokesman Chip Jenkins warned about the alternative. "We are going to limit the number of cars that come into the park." Last month, Mariposa, Merced and Tuolumne counties formed a joint powers board to cooperate with the National Park Service in the busing plan. Bids are set to go out this month to find a vendor to provide buses along Highways 140 and 120. With efficient daily bus service to and from Yosemite Valley, local visitors and tourists alike will have an alternative to joining the slow-moving parade of vehicles seeking parking space, YARTS backers contend. "There's only so much stuff you can put in there," Jenkins said about the prime Yosemite tourist area. Cars will still be allowed in the 7-mile-long and 1-mile-wide valley, but the buses will provide a public option. The fewer vehicles, the better, said Merced County Supervisor Deidre F. Kelsey. "There's only so many parking spaces," Kelsey and other YARTS representatives agreed. "By cooperating, we all gain." The YARTS concept included Highway 41 and Oakhurst in its gateway bus planning. But earlier this year, boards of supervisors in Madera and Tuolumne counties rejected the YARTS plan. A group of business people and residents from the Oakhurst area told the Madera County Board of Supervisors that YARTS was too flawed to succeed. They said it would stifle tourist flow along Highway 41. YARTS's two-year trial isn't a closed show, backers said this week. Madera and Tuolumne counties are welcome to reconsider. Fresno County, too, would be welcome, which could bring Highway 41 back into the plan. Meanwhile, fares have been set for trips from Highways 140 and 120. Merced passengers will pay $15. From Mariposa and Lee Vining, east of the park, the fare will be $10. From Wawona and Yosemite West, both inside the park boundaries, the fare will be $7.