A straighter track.

• Author: Rowley, Leanne S.
• Position: Alaska Railroad Corp.

Alaska Railroad has plans to offer commuter service between Anchorage and Wasilla. Tracks are already being straightened to shorten travel time between the neighboring communities.

It has become a familiar scene in newspaper, magazine and television advertising - a relaxed scattering of tourists enjoying panoramic views of Alaska from a domed train car. Now, as part of the Ship Creek development plan, the Alaska Railroad Corp. hopes to make that relaxed train ride a routine for Mat-Su Valley commuters.

While Anchorage population has grown by 14 percent during the last eight years, the Mat-Su Borough population has increased by 37 percent, according to the Municipality of Anchorage's 1998 Demographic Profile. Despite this increase in population, however, a large percentage of Mat-Su residents still rely on Anchorage for employment. John Duffy, assistant manager of the Mat-Su Borough, estimates that just over 30 percent of borough residents commute from the Mat-Su Valley to Anchorage for work. That means hundreds of people travel back and forth each day in their cars, often in inclement driving conditions. A commuter train would provide a safe, convenient and enjoyable alternative.

Developing this alternative depends in part on the railroad's success in implementing the comprehensive Ship Creek Master Plan. This plan, a cooperative effort between the Alaska Railroad and community task forces, municipal offices and federal organizations, includes improvements to transportation, recreation and tourist facilities already in the Ship Creek basin, as well as new projects like the Alaska Salmon Research and Fisheries Center and the Ship Creek Intermodal Transportation Facilities.

An influx of funding from tourism and government sources, including millions of dollars in grants, has increased the feasibility of these projects, with specific funds set aside for improving Ship Creek traffic access, studying the fisheries center, and building the intermodal transportation facility. It is this facility that helps to make the commuter service attractive to Mat-Su residents.

"The key issue," says Mat-Su Borough's John Duffy, "is moving people out of the rail depot efficiently." Duffy believes there is plenty to entice commuters to take to the rails and leave their cars at home as long as they can be assured adequate and convenient transportation from Ship Creek to work.

The first enticement for Mat-Su commuters, Duffy states, is the safety of commuter...