Yosemite Area Regional Transportation System

First proposed in 1992, YARTS was designed as a way to reduce traffic and increase accessibility to Yosemite National Park. In May 2000, after 8 years of planning, the bus line officially commenced service along Highway 140 providing access to Merced and Mariposa counties. Ridership fell short of expectations, attracting 15,956 riders. Critics also pointed out that over two-thirds of the riders were not paying customers, taking advantage of free rides offered during the first two months of service or were employees inside the park, who had their fares covered their employers. Despite the criticism, one year into the demonstration, YARTS was made a permanent service. To date, the Yosemite Area Regional Transportation System has provided over 1,000,000 rides. On May 23, 2015, YARTS began operating on Highway 41 between Fresno and Yosemite. == Operation ==

YARTS is operated by a joint powers authority (JPA). The YARTS JPA is governed by a board that includes two elected representatives from each of the five counties (Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Mono, and Tuolumne) that buses travel through. , Fresno County has been extended an invitation to join the JPA if it chooses to fund the service. The YARTS JPA contracts with the Merced County Association of Governments (MCAG) to provide day-to-day management of the service and contracts with First Transit to operate the service and maintain the buses. YARTS has an interline agreement with Amtrak Thruway and Greyhound Lines. Amtrak offers through-ticketing between its Gold Runner trains and the YARTS routes, branding the Highway 140 route as Thruway Route 15A and the Highway 41 route as Route 15B. == Routes ==