Anchorage transit advisory board asks for more city money for AnchorRIDES and bus drivers

Anchorage's Public Transit Advisory Board is asking the city for more general operating money for AnchorRIDES, the city's door-to-door ride service for seniors and people with disabilities, and for five more People Mover bus operators. The board's Sept. 10 resolution names no dollar amount.

The nine-member board advises the Anchorage Assembly and Mayor Suzanne LaFrance. LaFrance forwarded the resolution to the Assembly for its Tuesday, Oct. 6 meeting as an information item, not for a vote. Any funding decision would come in the 2027 operating budget, which the mayor is due to propose by Oct. 2.

In the resolution, the board says AnchorRIDES costs are rising with trip demand, fuel and vehicle maintenance, expanded service area needs and staffing. It says riders took about 176,974 AnchorRIDES trips in the most recent reporting year, including about 33,427 to medical appointments.

The board credits the department's training program, which helps new hires earn the license endorsement needed to drive a bus, with steadily reducing bus operator vacancies. But it says that even when fully staffed, the department runs short of operators when drivers are out sick or on leave, which cuts into route reliability and how often buses run.

The Assembly's approved 2026 budget gives the Public Transportation Department about $33.9 million in direct costs.