From Trees to Transit: Project to Build Bus Shelters from Local Lumber
Slider image credit: Erika Veidis
LAKE TAHOE, Nev./Calif. — The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) is leading a new Trees to Transit project that kicked off last week with a hands-on tree milling demonstration at the Lake Tahoe Community College (LTCC) for local students that will provide the materials to build a new bus shelter on the South Shore, planned for next year.
Experts from Cody’s Tree Service prepare South Tahoe High Career Technical Education students for a tree-milling demonstration at Lake Tahoe Community College on Oct. 1. Photo by Thea Schwartz
The project aims to integrate forest health and wildfire mitigation, local wood utilization, workforce development, and public transportation, according to the agency.
More than 100 high school and community college students took part in the milling demonstration by Cody’s Tree Service at LTCC last Thursday. Participants got to see firsthand how trees can become usable lumber and how forest products can be used locally.
“It’s cool to follow the whole process,” one of the Career Technical Education student participants said. “We’re learning about forest health this fall, seeing how the trees are milled, and then we’ll get to build the bus shelter ourselves in the spring. It’s really cool to see how everything connects and know that we’ll take part in turning these trees into something our community can use.”
Trees to Transit brings together TRPA, the Tahoe Wood project, the Tahoe Transportation District (TTD), and local education and industry partners to demonstrate how trees removed through local forest health projects can be used to create community infrastructure. The trees used in Thursday’s milling demonstration came from the future site of LTCC’s Public Safety Training Complex, which will support forestry and wildfire career education programs when it opens next year.
The lumber produced through the demonstration project is planned for a new bus shelter for TTD’s Route 50 in South Lake Tahoe that is to be constructed by students in the South Tahoe High School Construction Career Technical Education program, with installation anticipated in spring 2027.
“This project connects two important needs in the Tahoe Basin,” Kira Richardson, senior transportation planner at TRPA, said. “We have trees being removed as part of forest health work and a need for more transit shelters throughout the basin. Trees to Transit creates a pathway between those two needs, turning locally sourced material into infrastructure that makes taking transit more comfortable and accessible.”
Students got hands-on experience while learning how trees can become usable lumber and how forest products can be used locally. Photo by Thea Schwartz
Bus shelters provide important passenger amenities, including shade in the summer, protection from the elements, increased visibility of transit stops, access to rider information, and greater comfort while waiting for a bus. Though only about 30 percent of TTD bus stops currently have a shelter, and procuring, constructing, and installing a bus shelter can cost more than $100,000, according to TTD.
The goal of Trees to Transit is to help bring more shelters to the regional transit network while supporting forest health projects, career education, and the local economy. The project is funded through California SB 125, which provides funding for transit capital and operational needs.
“We are deeply grateful to the many partners, students, and community members who came together to make the milling demonstration a success,” Richardson added. “This partnership is providing a model for the basin to bring forest management, wood manufacturing, and community infrastructure together.”
The milling demonstration was co-organized by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, Lake Tahoe Community College, South Tahoe High School, Cody’s Tree Service, Sierra Business Council, Tahoe Resource Conservation District, and the Tahoe Wood initiative—a multi-partner project focused on strengthening a local wood economy that advances forest restoration, wildfire risk mitigation, and community resilience across Tahoe. Tahoe Wood receives support from the Tahoe Prosperity Center, Tahoe Earth Institute, Berkeley Wood Lab, and North Tahoe Community Alliance TOT-TBID Dollars at Work program.
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About TRPA
The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency leads the cooperative effort to preserve, restore, and enhance the unique natural and human environment of the Lake Tahoe Region while improving local communities and people’s interactions with the environment. Contact: Public Information Officer Eric Cachinero at (775) 589-5252.
About Tahoe Wood
A collaboration between the Tahoe Prosperity Center, Tahoe Earth Institute, and Berkeley Wood Lab, Tahoe Wood is a Tahoe-based initiative connecting forest restoration with a stronger local wood economy, catalyzing pathways for the trees felled in our backyards to be turned into local products. Tahoe Wood is mapping regional wood supply and demand, identifying opportunities for small-scale manufacturing, supporting entrepreneurs and workforce development, and building partnerships across the forest-products supply chain. Their goal is to help more of the wood removed through forest restoration become useful local products—keeping economic value in the Tahoe region while supporting healthier forests and resilient communities. This project is supported by the North Tahoe Community Alliance‘s TOT-TBID Dollars at Work program, which funds programs and projects that promote community vitality, environmental stewardship, and economic health in North Lake Tahoe. Learn more at tahoeearthinstitute.org/tahoewood. Contact: Erika Veidis, [email protected].
About Tahoe Transportation District
The Tahoe Transportation District (TTD) is a bi-state agency responsible for the management and implementation of safe, environmentally sound, multi-modal transportation projects and programs in the Lake Tahoe Region, including transit operations. TTD leads multi-jurisdictional infrastructure projects to make travel safer, improve access to recreation, and reduce traffic congestion and private car use. TTD focuses on transit’s pivotal role in improving air and water quality because more than 70 percent of the pollutants impacting Lake Tahoe’s clarity come from transportation system and built environment run-off. TTD has delivered numerous projects to help reduce environmental impacts and address the high demand residents and visitors place on the region’s transportation infrastructure, including transit solutions, roadway and safety enhancements, water quality improvements, and pedestrian/cyclist paths. For more information, please visit TahoeTransportation.org. Contact: Public Information Officer Tiara Wasner, [email protected] (775) 589-5504.
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