Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Hi Public transit system

Hi Is there any need for a system that would provide a shuttle from the local towns to the trail heads? Parking in towns with storage ? also a transit system that ran 7 days a week from Reno to Lancaster/Palmdale (Airport to Airport concept) . This service could be in operation during the main hiking season. Any comments or advice please respond. Thank You Doug

With licensing costs and vehicle costs to consider - I think that would be a tough sale from the business standpoint. Definitely would be seasonal for high use needs. I assume the transit bus only runs limited days due to feasibility.

That being said I think there is a viable need and market for people to be shuttled to/from trailheads - obviously with prearrangement(the instant taxi service concept would have obvious service flaw issues)

YES!!!! HOWEVER......

Everytime I do a point-to-point hike, I wish there were an easier way to shuttle cars, etc, and an easier way to get to the trailheads from the towns.

But, I highly doubt there would be enough usage/demand from Lone Pine, Bishop, Independence, etc., to warrant a shuttle from the towns to the trailheads.

It would be great for all of us hikers to have this service, but either too expensive for users, or too expensive for taxpayers if it was a city-or county-operated service.

Why are you asking? Is this a possibility? Privately run or governmental agency?

Hi Doug...I will have to pass this thread on to a good friend of mine. He was just appointed as the Mass Transit Director in Bishop. Not sure what specific area his job will be covering, but obviously some sort of transit system to trailheads might make sense.

The big thing would be cost. If the shuttle was run by a goverment agency, the bus/buses would have to be CNG(compressed natural gas) or a hybrid. CNG buses still have the problem of storage of gas for long trips. A hybrid would be the way to go, but how many will be needed? I agree, it would be nice to have a park & ride program for hikers.


Ron

Over the years we have seen several shuttle services come and go leaving very little consistency from year to year. Just look at the postings on this board that inquire about shuttle services. Every year it's the same...... what shuttle service is available? From year to year, we never know if the shuttle from the previous year is still in business.

It's tough to schedule hikes that start at one location and end at another. If there was a reasonable service, I believe more people would explore other trailheads.

I always thought that once you opened your hotel you might provide a shuttle from the hotel to the Portal trailhead for your guests. It might be interesting if you had a service that left the hotel at 2am to drop day hikers off (and throughout the day) and also pick them up on a scheduled basis.

I didn’t address either the liability or cost issue which could be a problem.

Thanks Doug

Paul

I think it is a great idea. Now whether it would be economical is another issue. I have used a private "shuttle" years ago to get the from the Portal where I left my car back to Bishop and then the next day from Bishop to North Lake. I had arranged one another time but it fell apart making the trip very hard. And I've hitched on occasion which sometimes works better from a trailhead back to town than the other way.

"Mass Transit Coordinator" in Bishop - things have changed over the years, haven't they!!!! (G) I remember when Bishop was about as large as Moab - now look at them both.............

Hi, Doug. This is my first time to Whitney from the east coast. I am looking at renting a car for 6 days, which will run over $200, plus gas, plus the risk the car will be damaged or broken into by Yogi the Bear. So, if there was a way to get a shuttle from a local airport to Lone Pine, and from Lone Pine to the trail heads that was competitive with the rental car cost, I would be most interested. A communicative, knowledgeable driver would also be a great resource. A place to store stuff would also be most helpful, since I wouldn't have a car to store non-food items.

I guess a rental car could be bear-risky since you don't know what the previous renters dropped/spilled in the car that might attract yogi.

There's an obvious need, but why don't you contact the shuttles that are no more to find out why they went away? That might help with the feasibility question. I know someone that's flying in to Reno and renting a car from there just to have reliable shuttle/tranport. She's coming in from NH.