A group called Anchorage Metropolitan Area Transportation Solutions (AMATS) has released a comprehensive 77 page report on Anchorage area traffic, finding that "Since the previous transportation performance evaluation in 2007, improvements to roadways have produced measurable positive impacts; public transportation changes to route structures and frequency have contributed to a slight gain in ridership; and additional and improved trail, sidewalk, and bicycle facilities have increased availability to users. In addition, capital improvements at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport and in the rail infrastructure have benefited freight movement as well as passenger travel."
The study compares Anchorage to similiar communities and finds that traffic delays are substantially less here, having increased slightly since 1982, when Anchorage was a bit worse than average, while the Lower 48 cities increased much more. All the gory details are in the report. AMATS is a political body formed by the Municipality of Anchorage to receive local transportation funds that would otherwise go through the state. It's the only so-called Metropolitan Planning Organization in Alaska, although other communities have looked at forming such bodies. Unusually for an MPO, AMATS does not have public representation on its main body, only on subcommittees.
Click here for the Anchorage Daily News story.
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