2909 17-Mile Drive © 2000 by Leo Poppoff

Pebble Beach, CA 93953

\(831\) 375-3302

September 14, 2000

Basin Watch

by

Leo Poppoff

TRAFFIC CONGESTION AND WATER QUALITY

When you're fuming in Tahoe City's traffic snarl during the summer
tourist season and winter ski weekends, what do you think about? And,
what are you thinking when you're cooling your heels in the Kings Beach
traffic queue, waiting your turn to crawl up the hill to Stateline?

Maybe, between cuss words, you're wondering if this is adding to Tahoe's
air pollution and if there isn't a better way. In the back of your mind,
there might be a dim recollection that TRPA has an environmental
threshold calling for a reduction of traffic in the basin. Once traffic
started moving, you probably forgot about the whole thing. But now,
there's a reason to think about it again.

Traffic congestion isn't new to the Tahoe Basin. It's just getting
worse. With rapidly expanding populations in the foothills to the west
and valleys to the east, traffic will become much, much worse. When it
gets hot in the valleys and foothills, many of those folks are going to
pack their SUVs and head for cool, inviting Lake Tahoe -- only an hour
or so away.

Back in 1982, TRPA wanted to reduce the number of miles traveled by
vehicles (VMTs) in the basin. Besides the wear and tear on your nerves
caused by traffic congestion, TRPA was concerned about pollution from
automobiles.

In those days, we were mostly concerned with carbon monoxide, ozone and
nitrates -- all spewed out of auto exhausts, or formed later by the
stuff spewed out of exhaust pipes. Carbon monoxide is a health threat,
especially to folks, at high altitudes, with heart trouble. Ozone, even
at concentrations below state and federal limits, burns our pines. And
nitrates, wafted over the lake, add to the nutrient loads that we're
trying to reduce.

We can, and will, argue about how much of the atmospheric nitrate
fallout originates to the west of us and how much we produce ourselves,
but at least some of it comes from our traffic. So, in 1982, TRPA
established an environmental threshold of 10 percent fewer VMTs than we
had in 1981.

Eighteen years later, we've gone in the opposite direction. VMTs have
increased. And now that phosphorus has become the key ingredient in the
diet of Tahoe's algae, local traffic is even more of a lake polluter.
Phosphorus is tied to soils, and soil particles don't usually travel
long distances as nitrates and ozone can.

Studies of pollutants that fall out of the sky onto the lake show that
something like one-third of the phosphorus that feeds Tahoe's algae
comes from the air. Those fine particles also float in the lake for a
long time, further obscuring its clarity. That phosphorus comes from
soil, sand and cinders that are ground up and sent aloft by traffic. The
connection between traffic and the lake's water clarity is even greater
than was feared in 1982.

Many years ago, we enjoyed a ski vacation at Banff. We didn't need autos
because there were buses to take us anywhere we wanted to go. We had
buses from the airport in Calgary to Banff. There were buses to ski
areas, sightseeing buses, and buses to restaurants in town. The reason
people used them was that they were frequent and convenient. Aspen,
Snowmass, Park City, Vail and other resort areas have learned that
frequent, convenient public transit improves the experience of visitors
and helps locals. Even South Lake Tahoe visitors can get from their
hotels to ski areas, tour boats and casinos by a variety of buses and
shuttles.

Almost a decade ago, some public spirited folks on the North Shore, led
by Steve Teshara, decided that if anything was going to be done about
traffic, they were going to have to do it themselves. That was the start
of the Truckee-North Tahoe Traffic Management Association. Volunteers
helped to ease winter traffic from Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows. They
helped with traffic at the annual boat show in Carnelian Bay. And they
lobbied to get extra bus service on the North Shore and to Truckee.
They've done a great job.

But, volunteers can only do so much. And traffic increases faster than
they can cope with it. It's time to step up the effort, add more buses,
extend service, make schedules more convenient, add dial-a-ride for
seniors and disabled folks, and start a water taxi service. It'll make
life easier for us, and help the lake.

Most of the traffic problem is caused by visitors, whose business
provides employment for many folks who want to live here. One way to
afford expanded public transit is to have those tourists pay for most of
it. A sales tax levy is a way to do that. Is it a good idea? Next week,
you'll have a chance to decide.