Sitka Ride (a transit partnership of Center for Community and Sitka Tribe of Alaska) is pleased to announce an advertising sponsor for its buses. Click on the photo to see the enhanced view.

The focus of our E-newsletter is to update our membership on statewide transit activities and workplace transportation information.

Please give us your feedback with your comments about this E-news communication.

AMC MEMBERSHIP

Welcome to renewed and new members for 2014/2015 (November 1 - November 30, 2014).

New Members

Alaska Municipal League Denali Dialysis

Gerry Hope

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Renewing Member

Mobilitat

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thank you

Your AMC membership allows us to advocate for transit issues in Juneau and Washington DC as well as around the state. Your support is greatly appreciated and I look forward to working with all of you in 2014/2015.

If you know of an individual or organization that believes in the importance of public and community transportation in Alaska, please encourage them to become an individual or organizational transit member. They can become a member online.

COMING EVENTS

DATE	EVENT	PLACE/TIME	additional info.
12/17	AMC Monthly Board Meeting	10:30 AM	Contact Doug Bridges or David Levy for additional info.
12/18	ITS - "Bridging the Gap Between Emergency Management & Transportation"	Webinar 10:00 AM (Alaska Time)	additional info
1/5/15 Deadline	Amendment 12 to the 2012-2015 STIP is open for public comment		additional info.
4/9/15	National Transportation Infrastructure Day		additional info.

AMC NEWS

WELCOME GOVERNOR WALKER AND ALASKA LEGISLATURE

Yesterday, Governor Walker released his capital budget for FY16. I am pleased to report that the state match for community and public transportation is funded at last year's capital budget level. The next stop is the Alaska legislature - the session starts on January 20, 2015.

Follow the link to the Governor's FY16 capital budget.

Congratulations to Governor Walker and Lt. Governor Mallott as well as the new and returning state legislators in the November election. Casey and I, along with AMC volunteers across the state, will be meeting with legislators and their staffs to let them know about the importance of public and community transportation in Alaska. Please take some time prior to the session to meet with your legislators and if you need our assistance, please let us know.

Alaska is facing tough economic times as the price of oil continues to decline. While that is a positive for your individual pocket book, it has an enormous negative impact on the state's finances. Now is the time to tell our story about the importance of public and community transportation in Alaska! Let your voice be heard - contact your legislator or their staff on the importance of public transportation in Alaska.

Congratulations are also in order for US Senator-elect Dan Sullivan and Congressman Don Young for their elections last month. We look forward to working with them, along with Senator Lisa Murkowski, on federal transportation issues.

As the year comes to a close, consider making an individual contribution to the AMC. Your support allows us to continue our local, state and federal advocacy efforts on behalf of transit providers and advocates across the state. You can pay your individual contribution online at or you can mail your donation to:

Alaska Mobility Coalition

3705 Arctic Blvd, #1777

Anchorage, AK 99503

FAIRBANKS TRANSPORTATION PARTNERSHIP PROJECT

I am pleased to announce that the AMC has been awarded a third round of funding from the Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA) for the Fairbanks Transportation Partnership Project (FTPP). The FTPP project is a community based effort to indentify and improve transportation for seniors and people with disabilities - living, working and visiting Fairbanks. This year, the project will be focused in the following areas:

1) Assisting CTAA and its national partners to identify the successes and challenges of the Fairbanks project and how that can be applied on a national level.

2) Work with FTPP steering committee and Fairbanks area partners in the following areas:

A) Creation of community based mobility manager - The AMC is working with its partners in Fairbanks to create a mobility manager position to assist with identifying and coordinating transportation in Fairbanks. This is a cooperative project of the Fairbanks North Star Borough, Access Alaska, Fairbanks Resource Agency and Tanana Chiefs Conference. The position will be part of the AmericaCorp/VISTA volunteer program and we anticipate that the new position will be in place in the spring.

B) Work share agreements - The AMC is working with our partners in Fairbanks to develop work share agreements in the areas of shared vehicle maintenance, fuel expenses and other related items.

C) Public Awareness - In 2015, the AMC will be running public awareness ads in Fairbanks, highlighting the importance of public and community transportation to seniors and people with disabilities. We will be running radio and newspaper ads later in the year.

D) Fairbankstranportation.org - the Fairbanks Transportation website is up and running! It is a clearinghouse on transportation information in the Fairbanks area.

CTAA SEWARD PROJECT

Last month, Charles Rutkowski with CTAA went to Seward to work with the Seward Senior Center and other transportation advocates to discuss transportation needs in the community. I have linked a copy of an article in the Seward Log newspaper for your review. For more information on the project, please contact Dana Paperman

AMC BOARD UPDATES

Thanks to a generous grant award from the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (AKDOTPF), the AMC will be holding its next face-to-face meeting in February 2015 in Anchorage. The AMC is looking for volunteers to serve on its committees.

The committees are listed below:

Fundraising - please contact caseyamc@gmail.com

Finance - please contact Jody Karcz at bankos@gci.net

Membership - please contact Kyan Reeves at kyanr@kgbak.us or Adam Barth at abarth@fnsb.us

Government Relations - please contact Doug Bridges at doug.bridges@ccsjuneau.com

APTA PROJECT/TRANSPORTATION TRUST FUND

According to the National Council of State Legislatures, Alaska is the only state in the union that does not have a dedicated transportation trust fund. That means that all of our gas taxes, DMV fees and other transportation revenue goes into the general fund. In the meantime, Alaska continues to lag in replacing must needed transportation infrastructure such as roads, bridges, ferries, airports and public transportation.

The Alaska Mobility Coalition (AMC) was awarded a grant to work with transportation advocates to create a state-wide transportation fund for Alaska. We are pleased to be working with outgoing State Representative Peggy Wilson on this project and are working to identify a legislator who will re-introduce her bill during the upcoming session. In the meantime, the AMC is looking for funding to put together a statewide awareness campaign, if you have any ideas or suggestions, please contact Doug Bridges (AMC president) or myself.

Thank you for your support and interest in the Alaska Mobility Coalition (AMC). If you have questions about this report or any AMC project or activity, please contact me.

Sincerely,

David M. Levy
Alaska Mobility Coalition