Mayor LaFrance to cut bus service in Anchorage

Empty buses following their routes through Anchorage with just two or three people onboard is not the only problem that the People Mover system has. The city’s bus service also can’t find drivers to move those empty buses around.

Two years after the city had bought 40 new buses to replace the ones that had been in service since 2013, bus service will be scaled back in October due to “significant workforce shortages and challenges.”

The city has paid over $750,000 in overtime since Jan. 22, 2024, and its on-time performance has been just 74%, while it has missed 224 trips in the first 150 days of the year. An unreliable bus system can be a serious problem for people who can’t report to work on time.

A public comment period opened quietly on July 5 and will run through Aug. 5 to help inform the city about which routes could be cut.

“Significant workforce shortages and challenges are affecting attendance and availability to perform the work and impacting the ability to maintain current service levels. This situation is affecting not only riders but also the expectations of the Administration and the Assembly. The Department is working diligently with Municipal partners (Human Resources, Municipal Manager, Legal, and Risk Management) and the Teamsters Local 959 to find solutions. Recognizing this is a hardship for you, your patience and understanding are appreciated as these challenges are addressed,” the municipality says on the website.

But evidently the challenges are not expected to be fixed by the end of October, when the reduction of bus service is going into effect. Thus, it’s not “if” the bus service will be cut, but “which routes.”

The People Mover system is considering two main options:

Option A: All standard and neighborhood routes would have buses coming every 60 minutes, but Route 25 would keep its current level of frequent service. So, Routes 31, 35, 41, 51, 55, and 65 would be most impacted and have buses come every hour all day long. The option would impact 10 routes altogether.

Option B: Route 25 would have buses every 30 minutes all day, instead of 15 minutes. Route 25 is the busiest route, so this change means that trips might take longer because the buses will be fuller and stop more often, People Mover says. But all the other routes will stay the same as they are now. The option would impact just three routes.

Public comment, to be taken in writing, will also be taken at public events:

• July 11th – Public Transit Advisory Board (PTAB) : 5:30 pm-7 pm
• Loussac Library, Moose Rm

• July 14th – Pena Park Market: 10 am-4 pm
• 8100 Starview Drive

• July 20th – Fairview Block Party : 11 am-4 pm
• 12th Avenue & Nelchina Street

• July 24th – Dimond Transit Center: 3 pm-5 pm
• 800 E Dimond Boulevard

• July 25th – Live After 5 Concert Series: 5:30 pm-8 pm
• Town Square Park

• July 27th – Disability Pride Celebration: 12 pm-4 pm
• Anchorage Park Strip

• July 27th – Anchorage Multicultural Festival : 1 pm-5 pm
• Town Square Park

• July 28th – Taste of Spenard: 12 pm-5 pm

• 2435 Spenard Road

• Mail your Comments: Transit Planning, P.O. Box 196650, Anchorage AK 99519
• Talk to Someone: 907-343-6543 (option #1, then option #2)
• Visit: Customer Service, 517 W 7th Ave., Ste 200, Anchorage AK 9950

Read more about the changes planned at the People Mover webpage.