The ground is frozen solid, the temperature a shocking negative 40 degrees centigrade with a slight wind chill. A few brave souls step inside of a local grocery store for a brief moment of relief from the chilling surroundings outside. After a few moments rest, they take one last warm breath before heading out the automatic doors, back to walk the streets just a few more blocks until they reach their local church. It is a Sunday, and parishioners walk from their homes to worship, the one day of the week in Fairbanks, Alaska, when the bus doesn't come by. If one has ever been to northern Alaska in the winter, this image is a familiar one. Here in Fairbanks, residents are blessed with affordable and reliable public transportation offered to residents by Fairbanks North Star Borough. Service runs Monday through Saturday for most of the working day (6:00AM until 9:00PM), and overall the bus system is quite competent. There is only one issue that I have with the current system: there is no bus service offered on Sunday. Sunday, for a large portion of the Fairbanks population, isn't a "working day" ,but for many it's the busiest day of the week! The residents of Fairbanks do everything from shopping to worshiping and for some even work on that forgotten day of the week. Although the current mass transportation in the Fairbanks area is good, the Fairbanks North Star Borough (FNSB) should increase bus service to Sundays because it will decrease weekend road congestion, lower pollution in the greater Fairbanks area, and increase the autonomy to those dependent on the transportation services.
The questions are why doesn't Fairbanks have week long bus service, and what would the consequences, both positive and negative, be for enacting such a policy change? The city of Fairbanks belongs to the North Star Borough, which is similar to a county and, money for bus services and other city programs comes directly from taxes and the Borough. Considering that on Saturday the current city wide bus system has an altered schedule, it seems acceptable that if Sunday service would be enacted, it too should be on this reduced, yet still functional time table. This would allow those who depend on bus service for work and personal activities such as shopping an easy transition from their current program, as it would simply be an extension of an existing plan. Enacting Sunday service would marginally increase the operating budget for the FNSB (Fairbanks North Star Borough), but the autonomy it would give citizens would be worth it.
The FNSB should know that enacting this plan into the current program is not only prudent, but also in line with the goals outlined by their own committee in 2003 when they set forth an initiative to lower carbon emissions around the Fairbanks area in order to comply with EPA standards. In this report they outlined two relevant facts. Firstly, that there is a growing need for this service; between 1999 and 2003, the number of annual patrons of the MAC (Metropolitan Area Commuter System) bus system rose from 246,064 (III.C5-19) to over 375,000 .Secondly, the number projected vehicle miles traveled per winter day was projected to grow around 10,000 miles per year through 2015 (IIIC.3-7). By the council's own projections, this service is going to increase in utility for the residents of the Fairbanks area each year, and with each year that passes more and more people will be around to take advantage of this service. This has implications that directly affect Fairbanks residents. The golden heart city doesn't look the same as it did just five years ago when I moved here from Alaska. The big box stores such as Lowes, Barnes & Noble, and Old Navy didn't exist; neither did many of the subdivisions around the military base. In the short time I've spent in this great city, I've seen a substantial amount of growth, but with that growth consequences are also expected. These consequences come in many forms. One of the most visible consequences of growth is increased traffic on our modest intercity road system. This traffic not only inconveniences many, but it may be potentially dangerous, especially in our road conditions.
So how is this problem going to resolve itself? It's not going to happen overnight, but the seeds for making a change like this are simple. The plan to start a Sunday bus service is broken down into three steps. First, a show of support by a small group of concerned citizens who would benefit from this change should speak out at our local city council meeting. With enough support, petitions would show that there is enough need for service (Step2). The third step would be to requisition this change to be reflected in the 2010 Borough budget. All of this can be accomplished easily in a few months.
With each year that goes by without increased service to the existing transportation network here in Fairbanks millions of opportunities for our own local Fairbanks citizens are lost. We owe it not only to our neighbors and fellow residents of Fairbanks, but also to future generations, for as we lower our carbon footprint around our homes and businesses we are ensuring a safer, cleaner Alaska for the next generation.
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