Bus service comes to the Bush

When you're ordering a new bus to shuttle people around small-town Alaska, it must be rugged. Four-wheel drive and a heavy-duty undercarriage, suspension and brakes are necessary to withstand dirt roads and snowy winters. Thanks to an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant, that's just the kind of bus Tetlin Village officials hope to purchase.

Funding from the nearly trillion-dollar stimulus package championed by President Obama and approved by Congress to jumpstart the nation's economy is now flowing into all corners of Alaska. The Tetlin Tribe is one of five Alaska tribal groups receiving ARRA funding as part of a federal public transportation program for Indian reservations. Of the $17 million available nationally, Alaska tribes received more than $1 million to buy or restore buses, water taxis, and build docks. In addition, 12 Alaska tribal groups are also getting more than $1.6 million in non-ARRA federal transit money to fund operating costs, driver salaries, fuel and public transportation studies.

In many parts of Alaska, public transportation needs are vastly different than those in Anchorage or Fairbanks, let alone places like Denver or Chicago, with their latticework of roads. In rural Alaska, roads are often unpaved and bumpy, and planes or boats are necessary for residents of villages to reach regional hub towns.

That's why Mountain Village, home to more than 700 people on the banks of the Yukon River along Alaska's western coast, will use part of its $223,000 Recovery Act tribal award to buy a river skiff. The new "River Transit Service" will ferry people some 20 miles inland to the village of St. Mary's, which has a larger airport and offers more health services.

Located in Alaska's southern corner, Tetlin Village is also gearing up for a purchase. It started a public transportation program a year ago, and its $336,000 in federal awards will allow it to replace one of its two buses with a custom-ordered, 15-passenger shuttle, as well as fund a year's worth of operating expenses. Since its inception last year, the free bus service has seen a steady stream of passengers for the 23-mile trip to and from Tok, where locals buy groceries, visit the doctor, and catch flights at the airport, said to Howard Mermelstein, transportation director for the Tetlin Tribe.

North along the Tanana River and 160 miles west of Fairbanks, Manley Village residents anxiously await a new bus to replace their long-defunct, Chevy passenger van, once dubbed "The Village Express," said Larry Bredeman, transportation coordinator for the Manley Village Council. After a few years of driving the long gravel road, The Village Express was shot by the late 1990s. And when it died, so did public transportation for the 70 residents of Manley, Bredeman said.

A decade later the 157-mile road is in much better shape and the tribe is ready to re-launch a shuttle service. Manley Village officials are putting the finishing touches on a new garage for the bus, which will replace the old Chevy van. They are also debating how much to charge for service to Minto and Fairbanks. At first, plans were to charge half of what it would cost to fly to the two towns. But with federal funding covering a year's worth of operating expenses, bus service could initially be offered at a highly subsidized rate, perhaps $20 for adults and $10 for elders and children, Bredeman said. While shuttling locals to the conveniences offered in Fairbanks is part of the attraction, he said, so is attracting tourists to Manley Village, home to dog-sled teams and hot-springs.