In the days leading to the April 2 municipal election, we'll be publishing responses from Assembly candidates to a range of questions. Read other questions at adn.com/cityelection
Q: How would you rate the quality of public transportation in Anchorage (on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being "excellent")?
District 2: Seat A
Chugiak/Eagle River
Amy Demboski: I would rate the quality of transportation in Eagle River as an 8; the low frequency of routes doesn't make it a viable option for most travelers.
Peter Mulcahy: Overall, a 5. For Chugiak, Eagle River an 8. For JBER, the "public transportation" is the free on base taxi service I started when I was the Director of the ASYMCA of Alaska. There was no People Mover service, very limited military shuttle service and a taxi ride for a soldier to go from the barracks to the PX/BX was as much as $45 each way. I rate that ASYMCA's service a 2.
Bob Lupo: I rate it a 7, because more efficient service could be had if smaller busses were used, and routes were served more frequently. This is especially true in the outlying areas of the municipality, e.g., Eagle River, Chugiak, and Peters Creek
District 3: Seat D
West Anchorage
Ernie Hall: 5
Nick Moe: 7 - Our public transit system is the best it can be with the resources it has been given, but we need to invest more in our public transportation to make it a true commuter system.
District 3: Seat E
West Anchorage
Cheryl Frasca: 5
Phil Isley: To have efficient public transportation, you need a road grid. I think about a 6.
Tim Steele: Inadequate. A quality city requires straight-forward ways to get around. We currently experience low demand for public transporation, but I believe that low demand is a function of system quality.
District 4: Seat F
Midtown Anchorage
Andy Clary: I'd say a 3. Friends who depend on it every day as their primary mode of transportation tell me that People Mover does a great job, even when compared against other major metropolitan areas across the country. I would like to see us adopt the Google transit standard for open data.
Dick Traini: 6. I would like to see the transit center moved to Midtown to make the bus routes and time schedules more efficient.
District 5: Seat H
East Anchorage
Paul Honeman: 6. At least we have a transit system, which is better than nothing, and the workforce does the best they can with their resources. However, the infrastructure is inadequate for the size of our city, and the long term transit plan needs creative options that uses many options to expand services, and of course we would need to deliver adequate investment.
District 6: Seat J
South Anchorage
Jennifer Johnston: 5. We need a centrally located hub to provide a more efficient service.
Anchorage