Plans for the central peninsula’s first fixed bus route are coming into clearer focus after a community survey. Consultants working with the Kenaitze Indian Tribe on the bus provided a public update Wednesday at the Challenger Learning Center in Kenai.
The proposed bus system, known as Kahtnu Area Transit, will be a fixed-route system open to the public.
“We’re sticking with transit best practices: that’s fast, frequent, reliable, affordable, safe and convenient service,” said Bryant Wright, a planner with Alaska-based R&M Consultants. “Everybody using transit wants those things, if you’re from Kenai, if you’re from Soldotna, if you’re from Manhattan.”
Wright said the consultants have refined the routes and stops, based on the community survey conducted in August and September. He said the most common needs for the bus are grocery shopping and appointments, and most riders would be willing to walk five to 10 minutes to a bus stop. Some of the current stops include the Kenai airport, Three Bears and Central Peninsula Hospital. There are about 20 proposed stops for the first year.
“We’re looking for stops that service many destinations, and that are friendly to a bus going in and out. And one of the rules for the bus is don’t back up,” he said. “We want to keep the bus moving forward, not backward.”
A preliminary plan for the first year of bus operation includes two buses running from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m Monday through Friday between Kenai and Soldotna. The buses will have between 36 and 52 seats, with at least two wheelchair accessible spots. The consultants have studied the possibility of including routes out to Sterling and Nikiski, but Wright said that would reduce service in the cities.
“What we have are two long spur routes, one going to Nikiski and back and one going to Sterling and back,” he said. “And then we’ve got kind of a commuter loop through Kenai and Soldotna that goes back and forth on Kenai Spur, and then another one doing essentially the same thing on Kalifornsky Beach Road.”
He said the lack of density on the central peninsula has made it difficult to plan routes.
“Kenai has some commercial districts, downtown, we’re trying to hit those hard with the stops. Soldotna has the same, Soldotna has some multi-family zoning so we’re trying to get there with these stops. But generally speaking, there’s a lot of larger-parcel, single-family homes, and that’s a lot harder to get that ridership from.”
Wright said if ridership is strong in year one, it could allow the tribe to add stops, routes or an additional bus the next year.
Consultants said Kahtnu will work alongside the current local transit system CARTS, which only provides on-demand rides. The tribe is still waiting on feedback from the Federal Transportation Authority before finalizing the plans, but will publish the presentation on its website and take public feedback on proposed stops in the meantime.
