A straighter track.

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 rail. According to Duffy, traveling by rail is a far safer mode of transportation than traveling by car, especially in Alaska's environment. The second reason commuters will take the train, Duffy says, is that travel time will be shorter by rail. The railroad has already begun straightening the tracks between Mat-Su and Anchorage, allowing faster train speeds and potentially cutting travel time by at least 40 minutes. A third reason Duffy gives is the financial benefit for families who may find they don't need one of their cars once they begin to commute by train, leading to decreases in car payments, maintenance expenses and insurance. "Why pay for a car that's going to sit in the lot at BP all day?" Duffy asks.

Duffy also states that there is an additional enticement for those families at the other end of the economic spectrum. Potential workers who have found it economically unfeasible to commute to employment centers in Anchorage may find rail travel to be a less expensive and a more reliable way to find and get to work. Commuter rail, says Duffy, will provide a lot of positive benefits and opportunities.

The transportation facility designed to disperse these commuters once they arrive in Anchorage will be partially funded through federal grant money. According to Bob Kneifel with the Municipality of Anchorage People Mover, the big question is still how to most effectively spend the $4.3 million federal grant received by the city to build a bus depot at the railroad station. Last month, local and federal transit authorities discussed possible transportation upgrade options. The goal of these upgrades is to link new passenger railroad services at the airport and in Ship Creek with downtown, midtown, and surrounding business, shopping, entertainment and residential hubs. This will require a considerable revamping of People Mover's current transit route system.

As described in the railroad's plan, the transportation goal will be achieved through four improvements: the multi-modal Ship Creek depot, expansion of the bus and mini-bus fleet, development of four transit bus stop facilities in Anchorage's central business district, and year-round pedestrian routes connecting Ship Creek and downtown. The railroad expects the transportation plan to accommodate the needs of tourists and recreational users of Ship Creek, as well as the needs of commuters, and to draw more people into the Ship Creek basin as well as moving them out. Future development plans include substantial increases in office and retail space, which should dramatically increase vehicular and pedestrian traffic in the area. Additionally, the railroad estimates that it will serve over one million passengers by 2001, bringing even more foot traffic to the depot area.

As a result, a major issue for everyone involved is the potential conflict between freight and heavy commercial traffic and pedestrian, residential and recreational users. In the Anchorage Economic Development Corp.'s November newsletter, Bill Deaver, a member of the Waterfront Development Committee, expressed the shared concern that efforts be made to ensure improved traffic flow and safety, both within the Ship Creek basin and on the roadways leading into it. The municipality will, according to the railroad, develop a plan to "maximize the efficiency of commercial transportation while separating, to the extent possible, heavy traffic from recreational vehicle and pedestrian traffic," and the state already has plans to use federal transportation funds to help alleviate commercial traffic coming in and out of Ship Creek.

These development plans may all sound like a boon for Mat-Su residents and the Anchorage businesses who employ them, but don't rash out to look for a commuter discount pass yet. Those involved with the Ship Creek development plan and the commuter rail project all seem optimistic about the potential, yet all also warn against the urge to forge ahead with construction prematurely. In their master plan, railroad officials state that "it is important not to undertake too aggressive a list of projects and that the projects should build on one another for maximum impact."

MOA's Bob Kneifel concurs, stating that the completion of the transportation plan is going to take some work and is at least six months down the road. And despite John Duffy's obvious enthusiasm for commuter rail, he also hesitates to promise a quick opportunity to relax and enjoy the scenery while getting to work. Duffy says that, given the railroad's present equipment, a "demo project by next winter is possible, but emphasized "possible."