The city of Bethel is taking a look at ending its public transportation program due to low ridership and high expenses. However, the bus system serves some of Bethel’s most marginalized communities, who depend on it for basic needs.
On a cold and snowy Thursday afternoon, riders on one of Bethel’s city buses stare out the windows while sitting in warm seats and listening to country music on the radio.
At rush hour, the bus is neither full nor empty. The bus stops at the AC store and picks a few people up that the driver greets by name. One woman who gets on with her son says she uses the bus often, but she’s reluctant to talk about it. The bus drops her off at Tundra Women’s Coalition, Bethel’s shelter for people dealing with domestic violence. Megan Zickl, who works there, says that many of these women use the service.
“We get residents coming in from the villages who leave their means of transportation in the village. Bethel is obviously a lot larger than most of the villages, so coming to a place and potentially not being able to get around to do the things that you need, or want to do for yourself, can be very restricting," Zickl said.
Zickl says that not only does the bus help women get things they need, but it can help them respond to the trauma of domestic violence itself.
“Domestic violence obviously has everything to do with control over another person. So when someone is finally able to get out of that controlling relationship and be in a place where they can now control their situation and their life choices, that's very empowering. The bus system plays into that to the extent that women can choose to go places they need to go without relying on somebody else," said Zickl.
Pete Williams, acting City Manager, said at the last city council meeting that he sees a lot of money spent, but very little made from the bus system.
“You should have some expenditures showing, and you should have some revenue showing, and all I see is expenditures," Williams said.
Williams says he doesn’t know right now how much the system is costing the city, and wants to find out before deciding to accept more grants, which the city would have to match, or look at shutting the system down.
When the bus program started, the city was partnered with Orutsararmuit Native Council (ONC), which covered part of the cost and made the system nearly free for the municipality. In recent years that funding has dwindled, despite occasional gifts. The city is largely on its own, and this is why council is questioning the value of the system. John Sargent, the city grantwriter who worked to get the system running, says making money isn’t everything and the city shouldn’t expect it.
“It doesn’t make revenue; there’s no bus system in Alaska that makes money. They all run on a cost basis," Sargent said.
Right now, the city is conducting a termination study to see if ending the transit system will cost the city significant money in employee retirement benefits. The wheels are already in motion to decide the system's future.