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Capital Transit resumes two suspended routes, begins core service earlier

Published 9:30 pm Friday, October 20, 2023

By Mark Sabbatini

A Capital Transit bus serving the Riverside/Airport Connector route stops at the Mendenhall Mall. The route, which was suspended last December due to a shortage of drivers, is scheduled to resume Monday. (Photo courtesy City and Borough of Juneau)
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A Capital Transit bus serving the Riverside/Airport Connector route stops at the Mendenhall Mall. The route, which was suspended last December due to a shortage of drivers, is scheduled to resume Monday. (Photo courtesy City and Borough of Juneau)

A Capital Transit bus serving the Riverside/Airport Connector route stops at the Mendenhall Mall. The route, which was suspended last December due to a shortage of drivers, is scheduled to resume Monday. (Photo courtesy City and Borough of Juneau)
A Capital Transit bus serving the Riverside/Airport Connector route stops at the Mendenhall Mall. The route, which was suspended last December due to a shortage of drivers, is scheduled to resume Monday. (Photo courtesy City and Borough of Juneau)

Capital Transit is restoring service as of Monday to two routes that were suspended last December due to driver shortages, along with adding earlier service on core routes between Douglas/downtown Juneau and the Mendenhall Valley, according to an announcement by the city-operated bus system Friday.

[Two Capital Transit routes suspended amid driver shortage]

The change to weekday core service, with the first bus scheduled to leave the Valley Transit Center for downtown Juneau at 6 a.m., and the first Douglas bus departing Treadwell Arena for downtown at 6:28 a.m., was done with commuters in mind, Capital Transit Superintendent Rich Ross said in a prepared statement.

“We heard from our ridership that our existing schedule lacked an option to get to the hospital – whether for work or for care – before 7 a.m.,” he said, “The earlier service on Routes 1 and 4 fills this previously identified transportation gap for residents in our community.”

The next valley bus departs at 6:45 a.m. and subsequent ones every 30 minutes until 6:15 p.m., after which they operate hourly until the last full round trip at 10:15 p.m. The Douglas busses depart every 30 minutes until 6:28 p.m., after which they continue hourly until after 10 p.m.

The Route 5 University Connector between Valley Transit Center and the University of Alaska Southeast will offer weekday service hourly during peak hours, with the first bus departing the center at 7:47 a.m. and the last at 4:47 p.m., with no departures between 10:47 a.m. and 12:47 p.m., according to the revised schedule.

The Route 6 Riverside/Airport Connector, which provided the only daytime service on Riverside Drive as part of its Mendenhall Valley loop, is scheduled to depart hourly from the Valley Transit Center starting at 7:17 a.m. and ending at 5:17 p.m., with no departures between 10:17 a.m. and 1:17 p.m.

The changes will also include timepoint changes to routes 7, 8, 9 and 10, according to the city’s announcement. Schedule information is online at juneaucapitaltransit.org/schedules.

• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.

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