Alaska Transportation

Alaska Guide

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Alaska Transportation

The important means of transportations available in Alaska are:

Alaska Air Transportation

The air transportation in Alaska is very well developed and it made transportation possible to places in Alaska which are not accessible through roads and sea. The air transport in Alaska is cheaper and also more efficient. Alaska has the highest number of pilots in the United States out of 663,661 residents, 8,550 are pilots. Alaskan airlines are the major airline of Alaska and it offers services especially from Anchorage and Fairbank to Kodiak, Nome, Bethel, Kotzebue, Dillingham etc. other important commercial flights are Era Aviation, Pen Air, Frontier Flying Service and Pacific Alaska Airways. The major airport of Alaska are Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, Fairbanks International airport, Juneau International Airport and Ketchikan International Airport. There are also many minor airports like Nome Airport, Valdez Airport, Kenai Municipal Airport, and Kodiak Airport etc. The longest runway of the world is situated in Alaska. The entire length of Richardson Highway being an emergency landing area, is  the longest runway. Two important seaplane bases are Akutan seaplane base and Lake Hood seaplane base.

Alaska Road Transportation

In 1959, after the achievement of statehood, the state concentrated much on improving Alaska’s road transportation system. Over 1,800 miles of connecting roads and 1,300 miles of isolated roads were constructed in Alaska. But all together the Alaska’s road system covers only a small area of the state and thus Alaska is considered as the least connected state in terms of transportation. The road system mainly connects the central population centers with the Alaska Highway. The road system of the South Central Alaska was destroyed in the 1964 by the Good Friday earthquake. But it was reconstructed very soon. In 1970s new road systems were built in the Fairbanks to Anchorage route, the George Parks Highway through the Sustins and Nenana river valleys. As the oil fields were of great economical importance in Alaska especially in the Arctic coast, road system was constructed between Fairbanks and the Alaska’s Arctic coast in 1970. There is no road system available to the state capital Juneau and many controversies have been going over decades to change the capital from Juneau to a city which is accessible by road. In mid 1980s the state was trying to construct new roads along South East Alaska’s coastline to link Juneau with the road system. There were several tunnels in the road system, the most important of which is the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel; it forms a link between the Sewards Highway and the Whittier.

Alaska State Highways

The important State Highways are Alaska Highway, Dalton Highway, Highway, Sterling Highway, Elliott Highway, Glenn Highway, Taylor Highway, Tok Cut-off, Richardson Highway, Sewards Highway and Parks Highway.

Alaska Highways

Alaska Rail Road Transportation

The most versatile means of transportations available in Alaska is the Rail- road. It is much cheaper compared to other means of transportation. One of the most important railroads available here is the Alaska Rail Road (ARR) which is owned and managed by federal government. It is a class II rail road, and runs from Seward to the North Pole through Anchorage, Denali and Fairbanks. It carries both passengers and freight. Natural resources like coal and gravels are mostly transported to Anchorage, Whittier and Seward through Alaska Rail Roads. The White Pass and Yukon Route (WPY) is a Canadian and U.S railroad which links the port of Skagway of Alaska with the Whitehorse which is the capital of Yukon situated in Canada. Other important rail-roads are Alaska-anthracite railroad, Alaska home railroad, Copper River and North western railway, Valdez-Copper River and Tanana Railroads, Tanana valley railroad, Seward Peninsula railroad, Nome Arctic railway, Klondike mines railway etc.

Alaska Defunct Railroads

• Alaska Anthracite Railroad
• Alaska Anthracite Coal and Railway Company
• Alaska Home Railroad
• Alaska Northern Railway
• Alaska Pacific Railway and Terminal Company
• Catalla and Carbon Mountain Railway
• Copper River and Northwestern Railway
• Council City and Solomon River Railroad
• Golovin Bay Railroad
• Klondike Mines Railway
• Nome Arctic Railway
• Pacific and Arctic Railway and Navigation Company (White Pass and Yukon Route)
• Seward Peninsula Railroad
• Tanana Mines Railway
• Tanana Valley Railroad
• Valdez, Copper River and Tanana Railroad
• Valdez–Yukon Railroad
• Wild Goose Railroad
• Yakutat and Southern Railway

Alaska Private Carriers

• Alaska Gastineau Mining Company
• Alaska-Juneau Gold Mine
• Alaska Lumber and Pulp Company (Alaska Pulp Corporation)
• Apollo Consolidated Mining Company
• Cliff Creek Coal Mine
• Coal Creek Coal Company
• Cook Inlet Coal Field Company
• Katalla Coal Company
• Ketchikan Pulp Company
• Maine Northwestern Development Company
• Rush and Brown Copper Mine
• Treadwell Mines

Alaska Marine Transportation

Marine transportation had made transportation to some of the cities and villages of Alaska accessible. A well developed ferry system of Alaska is the Alaska Marine Highway. It was founded by Steve Homer and Ray Gelotte in 1948. The Alaska Marine Highway system serves the South Central coast of Alaska, South eastern Alaska, the Aleutian Islands and the inside passage. Apart from serving as a means of transportation for the passengers it also helps in transporting freight and vehicles. It offers regularly scheduled services. The Alaska Marine Highway is operated by the Government of the United States of Alaska with its headquarters situated in Ketchikan. It was renamed in 2005 as All American Road by the Federal Highway Administration.

Alaska Other Transportations

• Dog Sled: Dog sled is another means of transportation used by Alaskans especially the native people. But at present this is being used more as a sport rather than means of transport. The dog sled consists of a sled which is pulled by sled dogs and used for travelling through ice and snow.
• Snow Mobile or Snow Machine: Snow machines are vehicles which can be used on ice and snow with out the need for road or trails.
• All Terrain Vehicles: All terrain vehicles are also known as Quad, Quad bike, three wheeler, four wheeler etc. it is as a vehicle that has handle bars for steering control, a seat that is straddled by the operator and travels on low pressure tiers. It is operated same like that of motor cycle but it is more stable due to the presence of extra wheels.

List of Airports in Alaska

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