Kudos to Cynthia Wentworth and her June 11 Compass regarding the Anchorage airport rail station and commuter rail in general. In both Anchorage and the Mat-Su Valley transportation planners and policy makers embrace sprawl and plan only for moving automobiles, not people. We can learn from the obvious and expensive mistakes made by so many communities in the Lower 48, where after years and years of simply adding more pavement — and not reducing congestion — they are now building transit systems that are effective and popular.
Of course cars will continue to be very important in Southcentral Alaska, but better transit options can help for the many routine trips made each day. With simple planning and vision we can save hundreds of millions of public dollars by developing better public transit rather than embracing the failed policies of the 1950s. Establishing a regional transportation authority would be a good start.
— Mark Masteller
Palmer
Anchorage Daily News