Some ideas come around at the right time, others not so much. It would appear that a Mass Transit Bus Service in the Matanuska Susitna Valley might be one of those ideas whose time has not yet come. Mokie Tew bet big that he could provide a bus service to the Valley and bought a small fleet of old Anchorage People Mover Buses, three of them were put into service in mid March of 2010, by April the two Valley routes were shut down due to lack of riders, most days they were lucky to have 10 people ride the bus, far less than the number needed to pay the costs of operation. The Anchorage Bus is still running but even it’s days may be numbered. It seems that most people would prefer to take their own cars to town than ride a Bus that does not allow you to bring a cup of coffee on with you, or perhaps they just don’t think real Alaskans ride Pink Buses. 6 Months into the great experiment Mokie has yet to get much interest in advertising on his “fleet” of one bus, investors in what he intends to be a non profit 501(c) seem to be as scarce as riders and advertisers.
It remains to be seen how long he will continue to try and convince himself and the Valley residents that this is a good idea, but the way things are going it looks like there might some used buses for sale cheap in the near future.
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