Gas prices shooting past $4 seem to have finally awakened local governments in Southcentral Alaska to the value of more public transit.
On Friday, the mayors of the Mat-Su Borough and Anchorage signed a pledge promising to develop a regional transit authority.
Their target: the growing number of commuters who drive between Mat-Su and Anchorage every day. The mayors' joint release set the number at 14,000 on weekdays now, with projected growth to 30,000 within 15 years.
They said they'd look at a number of alternatives, from additional buses to commuter rail.
Tuesday night, the Anchorage Assembly passed a resolution that calls for the state to appropriate $7 million to replace buses and expand the People Mover bus fleet, and asks the state to set up a $200 million fund that would boost operating money for transit systems around the state.
The attention is coming none too soon, as tanks of gas push $75 and beyond.
The $7 million would only take care of two years' of capital needs, said Assemblyman Patrick Flynn, a sponsor of the resolution.
But if the whole package wins approval in the Legislature, the People Mover could expand the daily operating service with money from the $200 million fund.
Unlike the governor's proposal to spend $1.2 billion on direct handouts to utility companies and to people to pay their fuel and electricity bills, investing in public transit would do lasting good.
That's what Assemblyman Chris Birch thought when he supported the public transit resolution.
"The idea of handing out checks to everybody is a bad idea," Birch said during Assembly discussion. He wants more permanent assistance with energy costs.
We're with him.
BOTTOM LINE: Improving public transit offers lasting help with high energy prices.