- Boat - Water travel has always been important for Alaska. The indigenous populations used kayaks for seal and whale hunting and today we see 80% of all goods and services provided by water routes. Water travel (sail for Russia and steam for the U.S.) initiated settlement in Alaska. Without water vessels the large amounts of material to support settlement and development could not have come to Alaska. Anchorage alone sees approximately 90% of the water born goods that enter Alaska with other ports splitting the remaining flow of goods. It is no wonder why Anchorage is by far the largest city in the state when it holds the largest port (and air-port) in the state.
- Rail - It is no suprise that rail comes in a close second for the initial developement in Alaska. Even though rails use is arguably limited and takes a back seat to planes and trucking today, originally it was second only to water transport. Where boats can haul the most cargo of any transportation system, they become limited by the absence of water ways. Rail can haul the most overland cargo. Alaska's "rail belt" sees the largest settlement pattern in all of Alaska. Where boats provide Alaska goods, rail delivers is directly to the multiple population hubs within the state. That is why you see the largest population areas close to rail lines. Examples of population centers attached to the rail belt are Anchorage, Fairbanks and the Matsu Valley (these three alone account for most of Alaska's population).
- Air & Road - Air and road travel go together due to airplanes being as useful as cars in the lower 48. Air and road developed in the same time range in Alaska. Today many Alaskans own a private car and private plane. There are yellow cabs and air taxis that move people and goods across Alaska. One thing I have always noticed sitting in my brother-in-law's back porch near the airport is the number of small planes zipping around. Alaska is unique in that so many areas are only accessed via air. Air picks up where rails leaves off in delivering individuals, mail and personal goods to the many remote locations. The concept of "bush pilots" is not unique, my home state of Idaho used bush pilots for remote mountain communities, what is unique is the scope of use in Alaska. Air and gground/road fill the final piece of the population and goods puzzle in Alaska. Boats haul the most to the state, rail is the next largest getting goods and people to hubs inland and finally roads and air finish the job, macro to micro.
- Trail Systems - Indigenous trading trail systems provided the first roads in Alaska. When the interior began to be explored for mining purposes, the trading trails were used as a means to gain access inland. This would lead to the development of settlements and extraction based industries. An example is the agreement worked out with the Chillkat Tlingits in the Yukon area.
- Wood Camps - Wood camps provided employment of native Alaskans when steamships began to ply the waterways of Alaska.
- The initial growth of aviation in Alaska came after WWI with the "Black Wolf" squadron of bombers (1922). These planes toured Alaska showing that planes could move enough cargo effectively. Shortly thereafter (1924) Noel Wien began the first scheduled flights to Fairbanks.
- Float planes provided the needed diversity of landing for a place as varied as Alaska. Float planes could take advantage of land and lake landing fields.
- The Territorial Legislature was instrumental in building up an air-infrastructure. By providing the Board of Road Commisioners the ability to spend $40,000 on airfield construction the territory signaled its belief in the importance of air in Alaska (1927, 24 fields). In five years Alaska had fully embraced the airplane for cargo and transport.
http://www.talkeetnaair.com/
http://www.coppervalleyair.com/
Source: http://www.travelalaska.com/Getting%20Around/Travel%20To%20Alaska/By%20Air.aspx?tab=2
- Most rail and road in Alaska in focused on South Central Alaska, specifically the Kenia Penninsula and Matsu Valley areas. There are additional lines the strike out into the interior, primarily Fairbanks and on to the profitable/taxable oil fields.
- The reason there are not more roads and rail lines to all parts of Alaska is simple, people. This is the biggest state in area and one of the tiniest in population. The rail lines could not opperate profitably to the multitudes of tiny hamlets around the state. Running the engines, meeting payroll and rail upkeep in the winter would require massive subsidies from the state; this would mean tremendous tax outlays from infrastructure dense areas to help infrastructure light areas. This is also true for road systems. There is simply not enough commerce that goes in and out of rural communities to justify the tax outlay for road maintanence and construction, especially in the winter. The thousands of miles of road that would be lightly travelled would not justify the cost. I have personally heard in Anchorage the rancor some people have when discussing the subsidies that already go to rural communities. Some feel that to much is already being spent in taxes to simply allow people to live in areas that are inhospitable to access and commerce. I have not been here long enough to agree or disagree but if that is a conversation now, I can only imagine what would happen if there was talk of connecting the whole state by road and/or rail.
- Private air taxis seem to be the most obvious choice in Alaska. It is more cost effective to build rugged, rural airstrips and schedule specific travel times. This helps create build in demand and get goods and people to the places they live in this state.
Source: http://www.rentalaska.com/alaskamcadv_015.htm
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