Soaring Eagle Transit Offers New Passes
Photo by Robin Eleazer
Michelle McAfee - CRR Staff
Soaring Eagle Transit, a local intercity transit service, is in full operation this
spring after the pandemic forced the program to close temporarily. Gulkana Village Council manages the service, which features two Toyota Sienna vans. It is now offering new daily fees and monthly pass options to better meet the community’s needs.
SET (Soaring Eagle Transit) provides reliable transportation, access to work opportunities, and transport to health facilities, including Copper River Native Association, Alaska Native Medical Center, and Providence Hospital. The vans go to Gulkana, Gakona, Glennallen, Tazlina, and Copper Center, with scheduled stops at places like CRNA, Copper Center Lodge, Wrangell Apartments, Gakona Apartments, the Post Office, Glennallen Library, the IGA, and the Tazlina Trading Post.
Tribal Administrator Robin Eleazer said, “The technical name for our service is Intercity Transit, but it’s not intercity here. It’s inter-village.” The service logs about 1,300 miles a week on local fixed routes, while the scheduled Anchorage routes cover about 720 miles a week. SET also connects with the Interior Bus at The Hub in Glennallen.
In a survey asking how SET could best serve the community, locals asked for more flexibility on pricing. Eleazer said, "One suggestion came from a few elderly people who ride a couple of times a day, to go get their mail, or just be out of the house. They asked for an unlimited ride pass because if you go from Gulkana to Gakona, you pay $5. Then, in the afternoon, if you want to come back or go to the IGA, you would pay $5 each time.” Some people who use the service are on fixed incomes, and the per-ride cost was prohibitive, so SET developed a Locals Punch Card that allows ten rides for $45. They also created a new Daily Unlimited rate of $8.00, allowing the rider to get on and off at any scheduled stop, and a Monthly Unlimited Pass for $160.
Punch cards and passes can be purchased directly from the transit drivers. “The people who buy these punch cards are very well-known in the community and to the transit drivers. A punch card is a good option for local travel,” said Eleazer. The regular local one-way route fee of $5 is still in place as as an option.
SET accepts Medicaid travel vouchers, and offers scheduled service to Anchorage and Valdez. Reservations are required at least 24 hours in advance for those routes. If the service doesn't have riders on a scheduled day, they don't go.
A Call-Out service is available for people who need special rides, like to the airport when the van is not scheduled to go to Anchorage. Eleazer said, "People can call and get scheduled when they need it. The Anchorage run costs $65 one-way, which is cheaper right now than it costs me in my car." She laughs and then says, "We run a dedicated bus service, no different than the Anchorage People Mover Bus, with set routes that have been approved. Somebody can't just get in the van and say, 'I want to go here or there.'" The Call-Out service also requires at least 24 hours advance notice to schedule special rides.
SET is primarily grant-funded and operates within strict guidelines regulated by the State and Federal Transportation Administration. For example, drivers cannot go inside a home to assist someone. They can only assist from the doorway to the transit van. Eleazer said, “We encourage people who need extra help to have an escort, and we don’t charge for that escort.”
The transit service hires certified drivers who are randomly drug tested and pass a thorough background and driving record check. Each morning pre-trip inspections are done on the fleet, checking all lights, doors, and windows before the vans take off. When the vans return in the evening, they go through an hour-long Covid cleaning process, steam-cleaning seats, removing and scrubbing floorboards, and cleaning windows. “The transit vehicles are spotless,” said Eleazer.
SET closed down during Covid when transmission rates were high and is now back to full service for the public. They currently employ three drivers and a dispatch office. Eleazer said they are always looking for part-time drivers who can pass the requirements and want to do a couple of runs per week.
The transit service connects communities and provides accessibility for residents with limited access. It opens up options for seasonal workers, volunteers, and tourists who want to visit and travel the valley and beyond. Eleazer said, “It’s been a tough couple of years with Covid, and we’ve only recently gotten drivers again. But we’re fully back this spring.”
For more information, go to: http://www. soaringeagletransit.com/ general-information.html. Click the Rules & Regulations tab to learn more about baggage limits, onboard pets, and other restrictions.
Soaring Eagle Transit Service Rates:
• Glennallen to Gakona / Gulkana / Copper Cen- ter, one-way $5.00
• Glennallen to Anchor- age, one-way $65
• Valdez to Glennallen, one-way $65
• Valdez to Anchorage, one-way $130
• Call-Out Service $1.00 per mile or minimum $15 / $20 for 30 minutes (Stand-by)
• Locals Punch Card, 10 rides for $45
• Daily Unlimited, $8.00
• Monthly Unlimited
Pass, $160
*Call Dispatch to schedule rides: 907-822-8495
Disclosure: The Native Village of Gulkana is a Copper River Record advertiser