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I joined the Public Transportation Advisory Board (PTAB) after watching the bus service my neighbors had used for over 35 years disappear. A series of meetings, heated discussions and metaphorical brick walls met with answers related to a budget, coldly dismissing historic loyalty to Anchorage’s 40+ year-old public transportation system. The Chugiak-Eagle River riders were reasonable. They offered to work it out, pay more, adjust schedules, but nothing could save the route serving customers north of Eagle River. It is gone. Introductions were made to try "Share-a-Ride,” and some may have used it, but several retired, moved or rearranged their lives in response to the inflexible lines of a predetermined budget.
Service to Chugiak Eagle River has diminished over the years. The People Mover route that once picked up Chugiak students at a crowded bus stop is gone. The bus that carried kids to the public pool and library is gone. One person told me she used the bus to get to UAA classes in Anchorage, but when the People Mover cut the evening routes, she was forced to buy a car.
Most everyone else on the PTAB rides the bus daily or on occasion. I don’t ride the bus because it doesn’t run by my area. If I am to represent the people of Anchorage and the clients of our transportations systems, I need to become familiar with the experience. September 19, 2018 marked my first adventure on the new People Mover.
I had ridden People Mover as a kid in the1970s to swim at Spenard Lake or do research at the Loussac Library. About 15 years ago I took a group of Russian UAA students on the bus to tour Anchorage. I also took advantage of the free ride offered on the jury duty card. That ride started and ended at the North Birchwood Park-n-Ride. Today Spenard Lake no longer has a swimming area, the Loussac Library has no bus service and the People Mover no longer stops at the North Birchwood Park-n-Ride. What has been the impact of the spiral downward in service? What has enhanced the current service? I want to talk to people who ride the bus now. I want to try for one day to do what they do everyday.
PLANNING THE FIRST LEG OF THE TRIP
My great bus adventure to Anchorage started at the nearest bus stop. The closest active stop since October 2017 is in Eagle River. I needed to find a way travel the 7 miles from my home off of North Birchwood to the Eagle River Transit Center to catch one of six buses(vans) that head to Anchorage from Eagle River between 5:47 a.m. and 7:15 a.m. There aren’t any mid-morning or early afternoon trips.
NEARBY PARK-N-RIDES
The Park-n-Ride at North Birchwood is less than a quarter of a mile away. I can see it out of my living room window, but it has gone unserviced since October 2017. Even though I could easily walk to the Park-n-Ride, no bus would pick me up.
Walking to the Park-n-Ride is out. Bus service stopped a year ago.
BIKE TRAVEL
I could ride my bike to Eagle River if I was in shape and willing to start riding at 5:30 a.m., but both being in shape and rising early aren’t my fortes at this time in my life, so I checked other options.
Riding my bike is out. I’m not physically able at the time.
VALLEY MOVER
The pink bus with the label "Valley Mover” drives by Chugiak and Eagle River a several times a day. I headed to the website to check the schedule.
It took awhile to find the website. The "Valley Mover” search brought up an outdated schedule, but no site. Another search for "Valley Transit” offered a website that said there was no content. Eventually, I scrolled through several choices and landed on the Valley Transit page. Those who are interested will find it at www.valleytransitak.org. NOTE: The transit companies in the Valley underwent a structural change a few years ago to consolidate and create a more unified fund requesting entity. All of the individual companies or organizations fall under Valley Transit (VT)
Valley Transit has 14 buses headed to Anchorage Monday through Friday from 5 a.m to 5:40 p.m There is an equal number of busses headed the other direction. The last stop out of the MatSu Borough is the Trunk Road Park-n-Ride. The first stop in Anchorage is the Downtown Transit Center with the exception of two trips that stop at the VA hospital in Muldoon. None stopped in the Eagle River area. I studied the site further. There was a section about Demand Response where VT will pick a person up at a first level, front door in nine different zones in the Valley. The trip price varied based on the zones. There was no mention of Eagle River or Chugiak zones on the site.
I did notice that the Valley Transit offered a service from Anchorage to the 2018 Alaska State Fair, but in reading the schedule (still posted on 9/17/18) there were no stops listed in Chugiak or Eagle River even though there are bus-friendly locations in Eagle River, Birchwood, Chugiak and Peters Creek.
Bus services such as Valley Transit that drive past my exit are out. They don’t stop in the area.
LOCAL BUS SERVICE AT THE CHUGIAK SENIOR CENTER
The Chugiak Senior Center has arranged with the Municipality of Anchorage to handle area service similar to Anchor Rides, but I am too young (not yet 65) and have not applied for disability services.
Senior ride service is out. I’m too young.
CAR SERVICES AND CABS
I checked out UBER’s handy app to find the cost of catching a ride to Eagle River. Their fare came in around $21 to drive from my home just off North Birchwood to the Eagle River Transit Center. LYFT offered a somewhat cheaper ride for about $18.50. Checking the fare estimator for Checker Cab, the fare to the Eagle River Transit Center would be $24.50 with a disclaimer posted in bright red that said, "NOTE: These calculations are for informational purposes only. The actual fare will be higher.” Yellow Cab didn’t have an easy-to-find ride estimator, but the per mile charge was the same, so I figured the fare would be similar IF I could convince a cab to drive from Anchorage to pick me up and get me to Eagle River for the 7 a.m. bus (van.)
Car services were out. Too expensive.
RIDESHARE
People Mover has arranged for ride share services, but those are for riders who have a semi-regular schedule that is similar for all riders in a particular vehicle. Occasional riders like myself or people who work odd schedules would not necessarily benefit from structured ride sharing.
DRIVE MY CAR, BECAUSE I CAN.
I could ask a friend or my husband (who works nights) to drop me off, but this is to be an independent trip. I want to experience what challenges face someone who wants to work more than a mile from home while living in a region of Anchorage that has been losing bus service over the past two decades.
I will humbly eat the cost of 57 cents to drive my economy car to Eagle River. I am fortunate that I have a car. I think about how hard it is for those who can’t get to work in Eagle River or Anchorage to earn a paycheck to pay rent, and eventually buy a car.
I feel like I’m cheating.
— photo by Gretchen Wehmhoff