YARTS confirms passengers will pay for park fees

YARTS confirmed it is in talks with Yosemite National Park about the need for its riders to pay admission fees for the park, as first reported last week by the Mariposa Gazette.

“In late February, the National Park Service informed YARTS of the need to communicate information to its passengers about the collection of both the gate fee and non-resident fee,” said a YARTS press release issued the day after the Gazette story was published.

“Currently, YARTS is awaiting details about how passengers can fulfill this obligation. Upon receipt, YARTS will post this information on all of its buses and at bus stops; passengers will then be able to pay these fees via the Recreation.gov online platform,” the statement said.

YARTS (Yosemite Area Regional Transportation System) said it will not be incorporating any National Park Service fees into its ticketing system, “now, or in the future.”

For 25 years, a YARTS ticket granted riders free access into the park.

That agreement appears to have changed with a new fee structure for Yosemite National Park that includes a $100 surcharge for non-U.S. residents.

The National Park Service is steering non-U.S. residents toward the America the Beautiful Annual pass for $250 that grants access to 2,000 federal recreation sites.

That is a considerable amount of money the park would be losing if YARTS passengers got into the park for free.

The plan in development, according to those familiar with the conversations, would have QR codes for Recreation.gov posted at YARTS bus stops.

But who will enforce payment, how it will be enforced and exactly where passes would be checked, is not clear. It is also not clear how payment would be handled for those who do not have smart phones or internet access.

There is no internet access at the Highway 140 Arch Rock Entrance.

Several sources in the hospitality industry, speaking on background, said it seemed like a choice between an “honor system” or a “logistical nightmare.”

Leaders respond to DOI

Local government leaders sent a letter last week to U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Doug Burgum expressing broad concern about the rollout of the new fee structures and commercial access to the park.

The letter was signed by Mariposa County Supervisor Jenni Kiser and Madera County Supervisor Robert Macaulay, as well as supervisors from Fresno, Mono, Tulare and Tuolumne counties

While not naming YARTS specifically, the letter noted that locally owned tour operators are required to pay $100 per visitor for their bus tours, “which has already resulted in the cancellation of large bus tours and group trips in some areas.”

“Higher commercial fees and operational hurdles for bus and tour operators may discourage the use of group transportation options that are often more efficient and environmentally responsible,” the letter said.

The county leaders also expressed concern that shifting entrance fee dollars to the America the Beautiful pass purchased online will deprive the park of gate fees that support local park operations.

As an alternative, the leaders suggest “consideration of temporary commercial exemptions or transitional accommodations for small tour operators.”

Macaulay, who is also chair of the YARTS governing board, said Congressman Tom McClintock is attempting to arrange a meeting with local leaders and Department of the Interior staff to discuss the changes.

Inside YARTS

After YARTS failed to respond to multiple requests for comment in the last few weeks, the Mariposa Gazette filed a California Public Records Act request for correspondence about the issue.

Emails show that conversations about the park’s approach to collecting the non-resident fee began as early as Jan. 15.

Serenity Anderson, transit director for the Merced County Association of Governments, which operates YARTS, sent an email about those talks to Erin Gearty, Deputy Branch Lead for Environmental Planning and Compliance for Yosemite.

Those emails show YARTS was hoping the issue might go away.

“How did your meeting on the International Visitor fee go last week? Should we just continue to keep our heads down and do our thing?” asked Anderson of YARTS.

Anderson then flippantly referenced a quote from Yosemite National Park Superintendent Ray McPadden.

“I saw Superintendent McPadden’s comments in the Mariposa Gazette when questions about the impact to YARTS, I believe it was something of the nature of, ‘I don’t have the bandwidth to shakedown YARTS buses,’ it gave us all a decent laugh,” Anderson wrote.

It is unlikely anyone at YARTS is laughing about it now.