OPINION: Now is the time to act on commuter rail for Southcentral Alaska

The best time to give Alaskans meaningful access to their railroad was decades ago. The next best time is now.

The Alaska Railroad announced it is bringing back the fair train in 2024 to take Alaskans from Anchorage to the fairgrounds in Palmer during the annual state fair. The high demand to bring back the fair train shows what many people already know: There is an appetite for better transportation options in Southcentral Alaska.

The special event trains are wonderful services to our community and they show that we have the infrastructure to get people around our state’s most densely populated cities comfortably and safely. So why does the state not use that infrastructure to offer reliable year-round rail service for commuters?

According to the Alaska Statewide Long-Range Transportation Plan and Freight Plan, called ‘Alaska Moves 2050′, it is estimated that 33,000 cars commute between the Mat-Su Valley and Anchorage every weekday. The populations of Wasilla, Palmer, and other communities in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough are the fastest growing in the state, with many residents traveling into Anchorage every day for work, shopping, health care, and other needs. Our state should offer those commuters another option in the form of rail.

Rail is safer than car travel. Alaskans are no strangers to reading reports of serious, sometimes fatal, crashes on the Glenn Highway. The American Public Transportation Association found that it is ten times safer to travel by public transit compared to traveling by car. Having reliable, consistent public transportation between cities in Southcentral Alaska would almost definitely decrease serious injuries and fatalities caused by car crashes.

Rail is better for the environment than car travel. Cars are one of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. The most recent ridership survey was conducted in 2009 and at that time, 1,600 people said they would take a commuter rail service from Mat-Su to Anchorage. While one could imagine that number would be higher today considering the Mat-Su population has grown by more than 20%, even going with that 2009 estimate would mean around 15,000 fewer tons of greenhouse gas emissions being emitted every year. That is not insignificant.

Rail is more consumer-friendly than car travel. People are quick to discount rail because of the cost without ever batting an eye at the money spent subsidizing highways. Even with considerable investments into road maintenance, the National Transportation Research Group found that a “total of 42% of Alaska’s major roads are in poor or mediocre condition and that driving on deteriorated roads costs Alaska motorists $340 million a year — $652 per driver — in the form of additional repairs, accelerated vehicle depreciation, increased fuel consumption and tire wear.”

We are currently looking at a once-in-a-generation federal funding opportunity for infrastructure and green projects through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). As grant cycles reopen in the coming year, I hope that our state and municipalities are ready to take full advantage.

Commuter rail is already decades in the making. It is a no-brainer that would add value to our communities in the form of safety, accessibility and sustainability. Too many leaders have let previous chances to bring meaningful progress to our community go. Let’s not let this generational opportunity to move our cities forward pass us by and leave us all wondering 20 years from now if there is more to life than sitting in traffic.

Andrea Feniger is an Anchorage resident and director of Sierra Club Alaska.

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