BETHEL -- The city of Bethel's tiny 6-year-old public bus system is in danger of shutting down just as it is about to really get going.
Public transit in a town with only a couple of paved roads, no sidewalks, and few safe walking routes serves 70 to 100 riders on a typical day. That may not sound like a lot, but for them it's affordable and convenient transportation, city officials say. For some, it's essential. About one-third of the riders are 65 and older. Some are in wheelchairs.
Since it restarted in 2008, the city bus system has been funded through federal grants funneled through the state with the local match provided by the Bethel tribe, Orutsararmiut Native Council, or ONC. This month, ONC's board decided to stop funding the bus system.
"It is struggling," said Bill Ferguson, Bethel's transit manager and the retired superintendent of the Lower Kuskokwim School District.
If a local match isn't identified by Dec. 19, the bus system will close June 30, said John Sargent, the city's grant manager.
The city's proposed transit budget for the coming fiscal year is $463,000, of which about $320,000 would come from a federal grant, $39,000 from rider fares and almost $100,000 from a local match.
"That is the question that council has to answer: Do we want to commit 60 to 100 grand out of next year's budget to fund buses?" said Bethel Mayor Rick Robb.
ONC, which debated the matter earlier this month with no resolution, will consider the bus money again at Tuesday's meeting.
"Especially for elders, it really helps," said Marty Langlois, a school nurse who was riding the bus one afternoon after work. He has a car but prefers the bus or walking, which takes about 40 minutes, because it's better for the environment.
"The bus is really convenient and saves a lot of money," Langlois said. The system will never pay for itself, he said. "The point is to help other people."
Walking is a challenge. Many of Bethel's streets are dark. The wind is fierce and biting. Four-wheelers can come up on a pedestrian fast.
On an hour-long bus loop that started at the Alaska Commercial Co. store one November afternoon, a steady flow of people got on and off. Eleanor Fox was headed to one of Bethel's far-flung subdivisions, Tundra Ridge, to visit someone who had been injured in Anchorage. Glenn Peltola came on with an armload of groceries. Kevin Jerry was going to a friend's house and planned to take the bus again later to get to his job at Bethel's new movie theater.
"I'm a frequent bus rider," said Jerry, who doesn't have a driver's license and described the walk to work as "a journey."
While Bethel roads buzz with cars and trucks, SUVs and four-wheelers, there's a core population of residents who don't own vehicles.
Cabs are everywhere and cost a flat $5 per person to most spots in town, $7 to the airport or outskirts. Rates are discounted by $1 for elders.
Compare that to the bus: $3 for adults, $2 for youth, $1 for elders. An all-day pass is $5.
It would cost $24 for an elder couple from the outskirts to get to the grocery store and back, compared to $4 by bus.
Ferguson, who is 75, is both transit manager and part-time driver. He changes flats and washes the buses, too. Besides him, there are two other drivers, one of them full-time, and an open slot for an on-call driver that is hard to fill. The city wants two full-time drivers.
When Bethel began its bus service in 2008, it was billed as a grant-funded program requiring no city tax dollars, Robb said. The city has no property tax and relies mainly on a 6 percent sales tax and grants for police and fire services, parks, public works and planning.
Things had just been looking up. The city learned in September it would get $82,000 for bus shelters through a federal "Ladders of Opportunity" grant that is intended to get people to jobs. A new, 14-passenger bus was barged in this year. Another new bus is planned for next year. The city has been relying on three older buses, one with 130,000 miles and another with 150,000 miles. They're often in the shop.
"Just wanted to let you know that we're on a little roll right now," Sargent told ONC's board Nov. 10 at a joint meeting with the Bethel City Council to discuss the bus issue.
The bus system has two routes that cover a total of 14 miles. A few years back, more people rode the bus, 125 to 150 most days, Ferguson said. But when those aged buses began breaking down, the city sometimes had to cancel a route for lack of a functioning bus. He's trying to rebuild ridership with new buses.
But ONC held firm.
"I'm sorry, but we just can't give the city of Bethel any more money for the transit system," ONC president Gloria Simeon told the City Council and executive team. The board had decided unanimously to end that support, she said.
Since 2008, the tribe has provided the city with almost $750,000 for the bus system, according to figures compiled by Zack Brink, ONC executive director. The money has come out of federal funding to the tribe.
But now the tribe wants to spend the transportation dollars on its own project, to develop a subdivision behind the U.S. Post Office, Simeon and Brink said.
And there's another thing, Simeon and Brink said. Republicans will control the U.S. Senate next year, as well as the House. The nation will get a new president in two years. Between the political uncertainty and automated budget cuts already happening through sequestration, ONC thought it best not to keep giving away money, the tribal leaders said.
"We don't know what's coming in 2016," Brink said.
"Especially with a new administration coming in," Simeon said. "Obama has been very kind to Native people, his administration."
Years ago, Bethel had a little bus system called the Hustle Buggy.
Sargent said the city eventually turned it over to a private operator who couldn't keep it going.
If Bethel shuts down the bus system now, its grant money likely will be divvied up among other Alaska bus systems, Sargent said.
"If we get out, we're going to have a real hard time getting back in."