Yosemite Bus Plan Funding to Be Held Over for Next Year

A plan to bus tourists into Yosemite National Park has gained another year of life before funds for the project disappear.

The California Transportation Commission voted 7 to 0 in Los Angeles on Tuesday to shuffle $2.37 million in funds for the Yosemite Area Regional Transportation Strategy plan to the next fiscal year while the group’s board completes groundwork on the project.

A commission official said Merced, Mono and Mariposa counties have until this time next year to take steps including finding a private bus operator, laying out plans for future funding and conducting an environmental review.

The counties involved in the project were granted money in this fiscal year for regional improvements. Under a state measure passed in 1998, agencies must use the money or lose it, although they can request to have the money set aside for the next fiscal year.

When a traffic plan was announced in 1997, Yosemite officials said 1.5 million cars were traveling through the seven-square-mile valley each year, carrying tourists who come to see majestic granite cliffs and scenic waterfalls. On a typical summer day, as many as 7,000 cars are in the park.