The newest update to public transportation on the Kenai Peninsula, Kahtnu Area Tansit, is estimated to begin operation by the end of 2023.
Kahtnu Area Transit will be a fixed bus-route service available to Kenaitze tribal members, as well as the general public. The service will begin operation with a single bus driving between Nikiski and Sterling. This new, fixed-route system will be a welcome addition to services like Central Area Rural Transit System (CARTS), which provides door-to-door, reservation based rides, but does not operate on the weekends.
Questions of hours and days of operation, bus stop locations, and fares have yet to be determined, but are forthcoming as Tribal leadership continues to gather data from the community. A survey was put out by the Kenai Peninsula Economic Development District (KPEDD) last year, which provided the early data used to begin planning operations for Kahtnu Area Transit, however, the tribe will continue to gather more data through a more simplified version of that survey, with the intention of refining the transit service plan. The new survey should be available in the coming weeks on the Kenaitze Indian Tribe website, as well as the Soldotna and Kenai Chambers’ websites.
Following the updated results, fares, hours of operation, an initial route, and stops will be preliminarily established. A public meeting will then be scheduled in August during which the tribe will take public comments on the proposed operational data. The comments will then be taken under advisement, and potential adjustments made to the service structure prior to Kahtnu Area Transit’s launch before the end of this year.
The service will begin with at least 2 years of operational runway, having been awarded a $1.1 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration’s Tribal Transit Program.
Brandi Bell, Elders and Transportation Manager for the Kenaitze Tribe, shared the purpose for Kahtnu Area Transit;
“Well, the idea is to provide a fixed transit route spanning from Nikiski to Sterling that is open to all community members at a fair cost so they can get to where they need to go without breaking the bank.”
It is the Kenaitze Indian Tribe’s vision that Kahtnu Area Transit fill in gaps in the area’s transportation network and complement existing transportation services, such as CARTS, and Alaska Cab.
Bell spoke further on the Tribe’s intentions for the service, saying, “We’re very excited. You know, it is about transportation, but really what it’s about is connectivity to the community.”
The Kenaitze Indian Tribe is federally recognized as a sovereign, independent nation under the Indian Reorganization Act as amended for Alaska. Today, the Tribe has more than 1,800 tribal members who live across the Kenai Peninsula and beyond.