More Riders Sought for Yosemite Bus Line By Michael Mello Modesto Bee - October 3, 2000 YOSEMITE -- One summer and nearly 30,000 riders after it began, the joint powers authority governing the Yosemite Area Regional Transit System is looking for ways to increase that number. YARTS exceeded its 2000 ridership goal of 18,000 in early August. By the end of the season in mid-September, its buses had carried 29,551. Of those, 13,024 were employees at Yosemite National Park who are not required to pay fare. Also, YARTS offered a number of free days to encourage people to use the service. Numbers were presented to the YARTS authority at its regular monthly meeting Monday in Yosemite Village. "I'm not surprised we did well. There's a real need for this service during the peak (tourist) season," said Merced County Supervisor Deidre Kelsey, who represents the county on the board of YARTS, a two-year demonstration project to bring people to Yosemite by mass transit. Mariposa County Supervisor Bob Stewart saw the numbers a little differently. "I think they're a little lower than we wanted them to be. I'd like to see them a little higher," he said. YARTS needs to be more visible to expand the number of riders, Stewart said. Members of the authority and representatives of interested parties offered ideas to improve YARTS during a 2 1/2-hour brainstorming session. The suggestions were recorded and will be presented for reference at future meetings. Marketing was one of the key issues that surfaced. Not enough people know about YARTS, said Dana Cowell, representing the California Department of Transportation's District 10. "We need to know: Who uses YARTS? Who do we serve?" Cowell asked. "We need to tell them this is our package." "We're not just providing a way into the park -- we're providing a rural transit service. Long term, I think that's viable," said Bill Haas, of the Federal Highway Administration. The YARTS authority also approved its master schedule for the next year and collected thoughts on how to improve service next season. There are no plans to change buses or hours, but discussion on that will continue in the future. Finding suitable sites for "staging areas" is high on the group's priority list. Staging areas are places along established routes where riders can park their cars and board YARTS. The authority will conduct four workshops over the next month to gather public opinion on the staging areas. A total of 37 sites have been identified as possibilities. That number will narrow to 16 after the workshops are held. A review by the authority in November will settle on locations for five areas.