LaFrance sends Anchorage Assembly transit board's call for more AnchorRIDES and bus driver money

Anchorage's Public Transit Advisory Board is asking for more city money in 2027 to cover rising AnchorRIDES paratransit costs and hire five more People Mover bus operators, funding that Mayor Suzanne LaFrance's proposed 2027 budget doesn't include. The board's request reached the Assembly on Tuesday in a memorandum from LaFrance. Without the AnchorRIDES increase, the city's transit director has said, some senior rides could be capped at about 1,000 a month, down from roughly 5,000 to 6,000.

The proposed transit budget lists no new funding beyond salary adjustments and bond payments, and keeps bus operator positions at 121.

AnchorRIDES is the city's paratransit service for people with disabilities and for seniors. Public Transportation Director Bart Rudolph told the board in August that the AnchorRIDES contract is expected to grow by about $1.6 million in the department's 2027 budget submission, according to the board's draft minutes. Without that increase, he said, the department would have to cap senior rides not required under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Those rides are separate from the trips the program is required to provide under the law.

The board passed its resolution Sept. 10. It says AnchorRIDES provided about 176,974 trips in the most recent reporting year. The board says the department has reduced bus operator vacancies, but staffing still can't cover absences, which it says affects route reliability and frequency.

The mayor's memorandum is informational and names no dollar amount. Public hearings on the proposed budget begin Oct. 20.