Транспортная система Аляски: вызовы и особенности

This article discusses transportation in the U. S. state of Alaska. Alaska has a small population within a very large geographic area. The geographic differences mean that no single transportation strategy works for the state as a whole. Roads connect the major Southcentral population centers with Fairbanks and the Canadian border. Barges supply the communities along the coast and major rivers, and a ferry system supports the coastal communities in the south. A railroad connects the ports of Seward, Whittier, and Anchorage with the interior via Fairbanks. Many interior communities are connected by seasonal ATV trails when the weather is cold enough to freeze otherwise impassable grounds. Air travel is the critical connection between these various regions.

Alaska's climate and geography provide significant challenges to building and maintaining roads. Mountain ranges, permafrost, long distances between small population centers, and the cost of transporting materials all add to the costs and challenges of Alaska's road system. Many of the northern highways have tighter weight restrictions during spring, where axle load limits can be reduced by as much as 20% due to seasonally soft ground. Alaska is arguably the least connected U. S. state in terms of road transportation. Its road system covers a relatively small area of the state, linking the central population centers and the Alaska Highway, the principal route out of the state through Canada. The state capital, Juneau, is not accessible by road, which has spurred several debates over the decades about moving the capital to a city on the road system. One unique feature of the road system is the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel, which links the Seward Highway south of Anchorage with the relatively isolated community of Whittier. The tunnel held the title of the longest road tunnel in North America (at nearly 2.5 mile (4 km)) until completion of the 3.5 mile (6 km) Interstate 93 tunnel as part of the "Big Dig" project in Boston, Massachusetts. The tunnel retains the title of the longest combination road and rail tunnel in North America.

The Iditarod National Historic Trail (not to be mistaken for the race of the same name) is a network of roughly 2400 mile (3862 km) of trail stretching from Seward in the southeast to Nome in the northwest. The trail began as a composite of trails established by Alaskan native peoples. During the Gold Rush era from the 1890s to the 1920s, it connected a string of mines, trading posts, and settlements, for which it was declared a National Historic Trail in 1978.

The Revised statute 2477 of 1866 was passed to allow for the development of the Western states. It states that "the right of way for the construction of highways across public lands not otherwise reserved for public purposes is hereby granted," with no requirements for a survey or a recorded decision creating the road. RS 2477 was repealed in 1976, but the access it provided across Federally owned land was not rescinded. Access to trails across what was at the time Federal lands can be retained as public highways. Since most land title in Alaska was held by the Federal Government before the passage of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) in 1977, RS277 trails now cross public and private lands and remain vital to transportation within Alaska. The DNR actively researches and pursues historical trail use to assert public access to RS 2477 trails. Most passengers use the Alaska Railroad for seasonal recreational use.

The White Pass and Yukon Route was established in 1898 between Skagway and Whitehorse. Originally built for the Klondike Gold Rush, it was not completed before the rush died down. In 1988 the railroad was reopened as a passenger only line catering to tourists, traveling to Lake Bennet and back, using vintage parlor cars. In 2015 the line carried 401,905 passengers on an excursion to the summit and back.

The idea of a Canada–Alaska Railway has been discussed and studied for years. In 2005, a joint study funded by Alaska and the Yukon found that such a railroad would cost US$11 Billion to build, but could increase the GDP of Alaska and Canada by approximately US$170 Billion.

Nearly all larger cities and boroughs across the state operate local bus systems, including Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, Sitka, Ketchikan and Bethel. While Greyhound does not operate in Alaska, numerous private bus companies in the state offer regional bus service, with Anchorage and Fairbanks as the primary hub cities.

Many cities and villages in the state are accessible only by sea or air. Alaska has a well developed ferry system, known as the Alaska Marine Highway, which serves the cities in Southeast and Southcentral Alaska as well as in the Alaska Peninsula. The system also operates a ferry service from Bellingham, Washington and Prince Rupert, British Columbia in Canada up the Inside Passage to Skagway. In the Prince of Wales Island region of Southeast, the Inter Island Ferry Authority also serves as an important marine link for many communities and works in concert with the Alaska Marine Highway. Cruise ships are an increasingly popular way for tourists to see Alaska.

The Yukon and Tanana rivers allow for seasonal barge use for barges with about 4.5 feet of draft. Air travel is the cheapest and most efficient form of transportation in and out of the state. Anchorage recently completed extensive remodeling and construction at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport to help accommodate the upsurge in tourism. In 2000–2001, the latest year for which data are available, 2.4 million total arrivals to Alaska were counted, 1.7 million came via air travel, and 1.4 million were visitors. Perhaps the most quintessentially Alaskan plane is the bush seaplane. The world's busiest seaplane base is Lake Hood, located next to Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, where flights bound for remote villages without an airstrip carry passengers, cargo, and an abundance of items from stores and warehouse clubs. Alaska has the highest number of pilots per capita of any U. S. state: out of the estimated 663,661 residents, 8,550 are pilots, or about one in every 78.

Because of the high volume of mail that travels by air within the state, the Bypass Mail System was formed to "alleviate congestion of mail in processing centers by creating bypass mail acceptance points." Because of the high quantity of mail shipped to rural Alaska from Anchorage and Fairbanks, the program intended to allow certain volume shippers to bypass postal facilities entirely, reducing cost and congestion. The USPS pays airlines to deliver the packages by air, but charges shippers USPS ground rates to do so, based on a premise that the Post Office should treat each customer the same, whether that customer is in rural Alaska a more well connected suburb in the lower 48 U. S. states. A 2011 report from the U. S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General states the program lost $73 million 2010, that it supports a freight service shipping things that would not be considered mail in the rest of the United States, and that it provides a higher level of service than Priority Mail while charging less than parcel post. Supporters of the bypass mail system argue that it is an essential lifeline for rural Alaska, and that it actually saves money for the USPS by reducing the handling costs on mail the Post Office would be obligated to ship anyway.

With the Airline Deregulation Act, airlines gained the ability to end service on unprofitable routes. To maintain service, Congress created the Essential Air Service (EAS) program. Through EAS, the Department of Transportation subsidizes passenger and freight service to communities that would otherwise be too small for viable service. In Alaska, there are approximately 60 communities served by EAS.