WHEREAS, Alaska celebrated Rural Transit Day for the first time on July 16, 2020, to focus on what agencies have done and are doing to recognize the specialized needs of rural passengers and staff; and

WHEREAS, as the reliance on rural transit has grown, so has the need to maintain the elements necessary for effective rural transit, including infrastructure and personnel; and

WHEREAS, Alaska’s state road system spans over 5,600 miles, with many communities not connected to the national highway system, and many Alaskans rely heavily on rural transit for access to their basic life needs; and

WHEREAS, Alaska Community Transit (ACT), part of the Division of Program Development under the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, manages Federal Transit Administration grant funds for 12 rural transit sub-recipients to assist with providing access and mobility to the general public and to transit-dependent populations; and

WHEREAS, as our communities change and grow, reliable and accessible rural transit continues to become a greater necessity to deliver people to work, medical appointments, shopping centers, entertainment locations, and other vital destinations.

NOW THEREFORE, I, Mike Dunleavy, GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF ALASKA, do hereby proclaim July 16, 2024 as:

Rural Transit Day

in Alaska and encourage all Alaskans to take advantage of and support activities provided by Alaska’s rural transit operators.

Dated: July 16, 2024

Stories are posted on the statewide news page. Send news tips, questions, and comments to news@alaskapublic.org. Follow Alaska Public Media on Facebook and on Twitter @AKPublicNews. And subscribe to the Alaska News Nightly podcast.

Police shoot an armed man in Downtown Juneau. Also, An Anchorage nonprofit hopes tiny homes will help shelter homeless residents. And, Anchorage police propose a 45-day timeline to release body camera footage of critical incidents.

Monday on Alaska News Nightly:

Clarise Larson in Juneau,
Jeremy Hsieh, Liz Ruskin and Chris Klint in Anchorage,
Davis Hovey in Kodiak,
Ashlyn O’Hara in Kenai,
Sage Smiley in Akiachak.

This episode of Alaska News Nightly is hosted by Wesley Early, with audio engineering from Chris Hyde.

Alaska Airlines is expanding its winter travel schedule with 18 new routes to sun-drenched vacation hotspots and snowy getaways, including a brand-new destination: Eagle, Colorado (EGE), for the fashionable ski resort Vail.

For winter travelers who like to chase warm temperatures, the carrier will offer seven new routes to Mexico.

Between December and February, Alaska will operate a daily flight between Fresno (FAT) and Guadalajara (GDL).

Starting in January and running into the spring, Alaska will introduce a four-times-weekly flight between New York City (JFK) and Puerto Vallarta (PVR), the first nonstop link between New York state and the resort town.

Alaska will also launch once-weekly flights from Sacramento (SMF), Kansas City (MCI), and St. Louis (STL) to Puerto Vallarta and another route from Kansas City to Cancún (CUN). A five-times weekly flight will shuttle Sacramentans to Los Cabos (SJD) and the top Mexican tourist destination, Cabo San Lucas.

Photo: Cabo San Lucas. Courtesy of John Cafazza / Unsplash.

These seasonal routes join the two new Mexican destinations Alaska Airlines unveiled last week: La Paz (LAP) in Baja California Sur and Monterrey (MTY), to be served year-round from Los Angeles (LAX) starting this fall.

Alaska will also increase its flights to Liberia, Costa Rica (LIR), a destination it first reached in 2015 and currently serves from LAX. Between December and May, Alaska will fly once weekly to Costa Rica from its hubs in Seattle (SEA) and San Francisco (SFO).

With the addition of the Costa Rica flight, Alaska will operate 104 nonstop flights from its home base of Seattle–Tacoma International Airport. The flights will also underline Alaska’s status as “the largest U.S. carrier between the West Coast and Latin America,” it says.

For those searching for winter snow, Alaska is also adding links to North America’s best ski resorts. That includes its first service to Eagle County Regional Airport, the gateway to Vail and its slopes, from Seattle and San Diego (SAN).

Photo: Vail, Colorado. Katie Musial on Unsplash

A new flight from LAX to Kelowna, Canada (YLW) will connect Angelinos to British Colombia’s best ski resorts. At the same time, San Diegans will have easier access to Reno (REN) and the ski resorts around Lake Tahoe.

Other new routes on the list target vacation favorites: a seasonal service between Boise, Idaho (BOI) and Bozeman, Montana (BZN), gateway to Yellowstone National Park, and winter flights from Sacramento and Boise to Orlando (MCO) for Central Florida’s warm weather and theme park smorgasbord.

The only year-round service on the list is a link between Boise and John Wayne Airport (SNA) in California, just miles from Disneyland.

Photo: Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9. Courtesy of Alaska Airlines

“We’re thrilled to offer convenient connection for guests across our network with this expansion—whether checking destinations off their bucket lists or setting off to their favorite winter getaways, we’ve put together an exciting range of options from tropical destinations across Mexico to the most popular ski slopes in North America,” Kirsten Amrine, vice president of network planning and revenue management at Alaska Airlines, said.

By doubling down on leisure travel, Alaska Airlines may be hoping to offset the slow recovery of its corporate travel business following the pandemic. The airline has been particularly hit by slashed travel budgets among the tech giants near its Seattle and San Francisco hubs. While meetings can be Zoom calls, Alaska is betting that real-life vacations still have appeal.