SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Almost everyone who has visited Lake Tahoe in the busy seasons knows having a car in the basin can be a hassle.

Spending precious beach time looking for parking, finally finding a spot that’s a mile away from your destination and lugging all your beach stuff down the road, realizing you can’t visit your planned spot because you didn’t make a reservation in time or paying too much at a metered spot.

Even locals know the struggle; not being able to park near your place of business because a visitor has illegally parked in your spot, or the drive to work taking twice as long as it does during the shoulder seasons. 

That’s why Keep Tahoe Blue has launched Car-Free, Care-Free Tahoe, an initiative to provide and highlight ways for people to get around South Lake Tahoe without their car. 

“Basically, what it means is, you get to Tahoe, you park your car once and get to anywhere you want to go in the basin with lake-friendly, non-car options like buses, bikes, e-scooters, shuttles, maybe even boats,” said Chris Joseph, Communications Director, Keep Tahoe Blue.

The program is being piloted this summer in South Lake Tahoe with hopes of it eventually expanding to the North Shore. 

While transportation is far from perfect in South Lake Tahoe, new and expanded programs have extended the places people can reach using non-car methods. 

Lake Link is an on-demand shuttle that can take users almost anywhere in the South Shore for free. Bike paths have expanded and been repaved, making walking or biking easier.

The City of South Lake Tahoe recently renewed its contract with Lime Scooters to allow e-scooter access to visitors who don’t have a bike. The TTD bus line can take riders along U.S. 50 with many convenient stops along the way, including to the bus terminal at the “Y” where riders can then get picked up by the Emerald Bay Shuttle.

Finally, the East Shore Express provides riders with greater access to trails and beaches along Lake Tahoe’s East Shore. 

“The best way to experience Lake Tahoe is from the passenger seat or from a bike or on your own two feet,” said Joseph.

“Traffic and parking are a real challenge here in Tahoe. That’s just the nature of being a super-popular worldwide destination that’s also within a four-hour drive for 8-10 million people. So, if you can stay off the roads, or let someone do the driving for you, it’s much, much easier,” Joseph said. 

There is also an environmental purpose for this message. 

“Every additional car that gets stuck on the road is more tailpipe emissions; that’s more food for algae in the lake; it’s also more wear and tear on the roadways that can create these fine particles of dust and debris that, when it rains, and snow melts, get funneled into the lake,” said Joseph. 

While Keep Tahoe Blue is the driver of the Car-Free Care-Free campaign, it couldn’t be made possible without other agencies in South Lake Tahoe, such as the Tahoe Transportation District, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, El Dorado County Supervisor Brooke Laine, the Tahoe Bike Coalition and more. 

Those groups gathered at Heavenly Mountain Resort on Wednesday, June 17, to celebrate the unveiling of two gondola cars wrapped with art depicting the Car Free Care Free message. Keep Tahoe Blue is a beneficiary of Vail’s Epic Promise, and Heavenly leadership was excited to help spread Keep Tahoe Blue’s message. 

“The Emerald Bay Shuttle program launched just this last year, and it was such a great example of our shared commitment to protecting the Lake Tahoe Basin,” said Peter Disch, Vice President of Mountain Operations, Heavenly. “So, when Keep Tahoe Blue approached about supporting the [Car Free Care Free] initiative, it was an immediate, ‘yes.'”

They opened applications to artists within a 50-mile radius to submit their interpretations of Car Free Care Free. About 80 artists submitted applications, but local artist Bryn Merrell was named the winner.

For Merrell, winning the contest was too good to be true, so much so that she assumed the email announcing that she’d won must be spam. 

“I couldn’t believe it when I was chosen; it’s a big opportunity, and I was honored,” said Merrell. 

The piece is a panoramic view that spans from the East Shore all the way to Emerald Bay. It features some of Merrell’s favorite places along the South Shore, and it also features Highway 89. 

“I just wanted the piece to celebrate the road which connects these communities, versus seeing it as a negative,” said Merrell. 

She added that while the road does mean traffic, it also gives people access to the beautiful places in the area. 

The wrapped cars are already running on Heavenly’s gondola. In addition to the exterior art, there is information inside on how to go car-free. 

During the unveiling of the gondola, Keep Tahoe Blue Chief Strategy Officer Jesse Patterson, who rode a Lime Scooter from the KTB offices to the unveiling, said, “Part of visiting Tahoe should be how you get to each location and all the people you meet along the way.”

To learn more about the initiative, visit https://www.keeptahoeblue.org/combat-pollution/cfcf/.