PEOPLE MOVER in Anchorage AK

[WMAveteran]

I'm visiting Anchorage and had an opportunity to photograph transit activity at the downtown transit terminal.

[WMATAGMOAGH]

Very nice photos.  I was there in August 2004 but never got any transit photos.  I only saw D40LFs but it seems as if they got SLFs too, and obviously the D40LFR wouldn't have been there in 2007.

Are you going to ride the Alaska Railroad at all? 

[WayneNYC]

Awesome.  Are you travelling to other parts of Alaska?  Thanks for posting.

[Nabinut]

Nice photos. You've reached a part of the U.S I haven't been yet. The question on all of our minds is...how cold is it there?

[Scrabbleship]

Nice photos. You've reached a part of the U.S I haven't been yet. The question on all of our minds is...how cold is it there?

Cold enough to preclude the use of air conditioning (note the Edmonton-style flat rear on the D40LFR). A look of the weather forecast looks...surprising.

[WMATAGMOAGH]

It is quite pleasant in Alaska this time of year.  My recollection is I was able to wear shorts on quite a few occasions, yet it was not unpleasantly hot (I really didn't spend time in Anchorage, I was staying in the center of Denali National Park for a few days, and then spent the remainder of my time on the Kenai Peninsula where I have family).  Right now, the high temps for the next few days are in the 60s.  According to Wikipedia, "[a]verage daytime summer temperatures range from approximately 55 to 78 degrees Fahrenheit (13 to 26 degrees Celsius); average daytime winter temperatures are about 5 to 30 degrees (-15 to -1 degrees Celsius)."

[WMAveteran]

Thanks for the comments and reflections.  I was there for 5 days and Alaska is very large (2.5 times the size of Texas).  Most of the state is inaccessible by road so it has the largest group of seaplanes in the country.  Our hotel was directly across the street from the Lake Hood seaplane base which was busier than the PEOPLE MOVER buses. 
PEOPLE MOVER operates 14 routes (1,2,3,7,8,9,13,14,15,36,45,60,75 and 102). The fare is $1.75 for adults, $1.00 for youth, .50 for seniors and persons with disabilities.  University of Alaska students and children under 4 ride for free.  There is a $4.00 all day pass.

WMATAGMOAGH is correct about the temperature in the Anchorage and Kenai (Seward) areas; it was in the 60s during the day (one day made it to 72) and in the 40s at night during the summer.  It has a temperate rain forest type of climate so it can and does rain at the drop of a hat.  Prior to my arrival it had rained for 30 days straight!  Apparently I brought the sunshine (lol).  The temperature in the interior (Fairbanks) and the north (Prudhoe Bay) tends to be sub-arctic and arctic respectively.  Curiously, Juneau, the state capital, is not accessible by road from any direction so you must travel there by boat or by air.  We also drove to Wasilla to see if we could view Russia from Sarah Palin's house.  You cannot see Russia or even the coastline from Wasilla because it is landlocked and surrounded by very high mountains (What was she smoking?).         

The Alaska Rail Road has gorgeous rolling stock but it operates at a very slow speed.  For instance the trip from Anchorage to Seward takes the train 4 hours while we drove it in two hours (127 miles). The trip from Anchorage to Fairbanks takes all day and there is only one train per day in each direction so you must stay overnight to make a roundtrip.  I will ride the rails on my next trip but I did buy souvenirs at the Rail Road's Gift Shop.

[Tritransit Area]

Wow, Alaska really does seem like a very interesting place!