First off, love its acronym lol (YARTS). Pretty nifty service if you don't want to drive all the way to Yosemite National Park; there's a bit of winding-road areas against mountain edges when heading to the park. Bus fare includes park admission. There are multiple bus routes but some are seasonal. What I did is dropped my car at the Mariposa Park & Ride lot, which is a 45 min easy highway drive from Merced, then hopped on the bus and about 2 hours later reached Yosemite. Yes, taking the bus is slower than taking your own car (surprise surprise lol) so I advise to take the bus sometime in the morning (I took the first bus heading to Yosemite and that bus left the park & ride lot at around 6 am). Smooth bus ride (I easily fell asleep on the bus, to and from, lol). Bus is clean and has large windows so you can easily take photos on the way to the park. Bus drivers, to and from, were both very friendly. Besides the relatively long transportation time, the other downside I can think of when using YARTS is that you won't be able to access certain landmarks in Yosemite Valley (Bridalveil Fall, Tunnel View, etc.) that you would otherwise be able to if you brought your car with you. If those places aren't on your itinerary, I definitely recommend taking YARTS! read more

The whole nine yarts? I connect to here using Amtrak or Greyhound (usually the latter) at "The Bus", and these local buses will take you to the park or anywhere in the greater Merced area, so it's a great service for those that come to Yosemite without cars, which is a bad idea if you ask me, but this eases the annoyance for sure. You can catch these all over town (like colds, or corona), and you can get into town initially using trains or dog buses. Merced Transportation Center is where you'll catch the Greyhound buses in Merced. It's known as "The Bus", not really sure why. It used to be a Southern Pacific Railway Station for Greyhound getting to Sacramento, to the Bay Area and Los Angeles. And also you can get to Yosemite from here. It's in the heart of Merced and is small and does a good service for the buses and the trains. Right by the little old Spanish looking house, which is very Cali, so it works perfectly. read more

Easiest way to get to Yosemite. Ticket was affordable (19 bucks from Mammoth) and driver was friendly and courteous. The ride was scenic if not a bit long (about 4 hours). Only bad thing is that these buses don't run weekdays mid September, so if you happen to want/need to go into Yosemite or any of the other stops along the way, you will have to arrange for alternative means. read more

1st time to Yosemite and we decided to take a chance on YART. Glad we did! Bus was right on time leaving Merced. It makes a few stops along the way, but basically a slow down because no one got on or off until Yosemite. Bus was new, clean & spacious...with a bathroom. Like the fact they have actual plugs in seats to charge phones, tablets, etc. Tablets charged means occupied kids. Ha! Husband & I paid $25 each for our tickets and our 2 children rode free (with each paid adult ticket) Which includes the admission to the park. Can't beat the price considering the entrance sign at the park said $30 entrance fee per car. If we had drove, definitely would have spent more than $20 in gas. As long as YART doesn't raise their prices, we will only be getting to Yosemite through them. Thanks! read more

The drivers are great, but this service is totally unsafe in 2020. Some passengers are unmasked throughout. Some bring chips to snack on! So this is a multi-hour confined space with strangers talking and eating uncovered. Take your chances. read more

We looked for reviews on yarts and could not find many for 2017. We decided to go ahead and take the chance and ride the bus into Yosemite. It was the best decision of our trip. The bus driver was very professional and made us feel safe during the beautiful yet sometimes scary trip into Yosemite. I would highly recommend yarts for anyone going to Yosemite. We watched people struggle for parking and we're so glad that we weren't among them. I noticed some of the reviews say the trip was a lot longer on the bus, we did not find that to be true, the stops were very brief and the driver was prompt and on time. read more

I used YARTs for my trip into Yosemite. The times posted were very accurate and I got to my destination right on time. We got picked up at the Merced amtrak. My girlfriend and I paid $25 each for a round trip into the valley which is awesome since it includes admission into Yosemite. The buses we used were very clean and relatively new. The bathroom on the bus isn't the cleanest but will do during the ride. We went during the winter so the bus was very empty and there were not many stops. I talked to someone who uses the bus regularly and she mentioned that during the summer the bus ride is terrible because there are a lot of people on the bus and leaving the valley the bus is typically in stop and go traffic. Our ride was pleasant and I would totally ride it again but I would avoid peak seasons. read more

Although I think YARTS is absolutely incredible, and worthy of nothing less than 4 stars, I do want to just add a cautionary tale for the weary traveler. The timing from getting off the Amtrak at Merced to stepping onboard the YARTS bus is nothing short of impeccable and. Truly Swiss in that regard. However, if you do not already have a ticket purchased, you may be in for a bit of a surprise. YARTS has stopped carrying change and, remarkably, a card reader. So one better make sure you have exact change or else you will give YARTS a most generous tip. So, I was a bit disappointed by this. Especially since they have advertised on the machine that they take Visa, MasterCard and other credit cards. Faulty advertising at the very least. -1 star. read more

As I big supporter of public transit, I was so disappointed in my family's recent YARTs experience. The "half hour" trip from El Portal to the Valley took 2 hours, after the bus was over 45 minutes late. This was 2 days in a row. Five of the six trips we took on Yarts were very behind schedule and standing room only. Also, on more than one leg, riders were told there was no change available when purchasing tickets. I don't know what happened to the riders who did not have the exact change. Also, why are not all runs made on all days, especially the weekends during the winter holiday? On weekends, unless you're on the 6 am run from Merced, you will not make it to the park before almost 2 pm, which negates the usefulness of the service for many people. I know the buses are expensive, but my family's multiple negative experiences (including two 2 hour rides with my young children standing in the aisle the entire time) means that in the future we will be in our private car, adding congestion and pollution to the valley. I don't want to be critical just to be critical, but there is just so much room for improvement. Also, checking facebook for delays, which I heard does not work anyway, when there is no cell phone service in wide areas of the service region is not too helpful. I don't want to add to the degradation of Yosemite, but YARTs has not provided me with a viable alternative. The 2 stars is due the reasonable ticket price, decent buses and courteous drivers. Though, I am shocked that YARTs has such a high rating as there was a near mutiny on one of our rides, where multiple groups decided to just get off and either walk or hitch hike. I assume riders felt they had already wasted too many hours on the bus and didn't want to waste another minute, even to write a YELP review, hence the high rating. read more

Very affordable pricing, friendly bus drivers! I enjoyed the scenic ride! read more

This was the best decision we made being that we went this Memorial Day weekend. Yosemite Valley was so crowded and there was no more parking. I was so happy that we had already reserved the tickets for the YARTS and we did not have any hassles with the transportation. The YARTS even had a stop at our hotel. It was so convenient to have this transportation and it also allowed all of us to enjoy the views while going through the windy road down to the Yosemite Valley. The bus is in good condition and even has a bathroom (it is a long ride). The prices are very reasonable too. Much better than being stuck in traffic and hunting for a parking spot when all you want to do is get out and explore. read more

great way to get to yosemite in winter..if u don't want to drive and take in the views instead...service is punctual..and quite convenient.they operate from merced to yosemite and have a number of stops....info available on their website...we also got an enthusiastic driver...who gave us a lil' bit of a conducted tour in yosemite!! read more