The Alaska Bus Company scheduled an earlier start to its regular service this year, in an effort to help mitigate travel difficulties due to the ongoing Homer Airport improvement project.
“We’ve been hearing that people’s travel plans are affected in response to the Homer airport,” owner Brian Reid told Homer News on Saturday, May 11. “We’re hoping to relieve a little bit of pressure there.”
Offering “affordable bus service between Anchorage and Homer,” the locally owned-and-operated company’s luxury shuttle buses are scheduled seven days a week, making stops in Soldotna, Cooper Landing and Girdwood before reaching Anchorage. In addition to passenger transportation, the company provides private bus charter services for events or group functions, and parcel services along their regular route.
Typically, the Alaska Bus Company resumes operation starting June 1. However, this year buses were slated to resume their regular Homer-to-Anchorage transportation route on Wednesday, May 15.
Additionally, the company recently added three new vehicles to its fleet, bringing operations to five passenger buses ranging in capacity from 23 to 32 passengers. All buses are also newly equipped with Starlink Wi-Fi to “help folks stay connected while traveling or commuting, (as well as) for safety in remote areas where you lose cell reception,” Reid said.
In an April 19 email to Homer News, Reid wrote that the Alaska Bus Company was in communications with some of the flight services in Kenai about the potential of a Homer-to-Kenai airport bus shuttle. “ … We are welcoming any input from the community to see if this would be a helpful service for those traveling/commuting.”
On Saturday, Reid said that the company was still investigating the logistics and feasibility for a scheduled Homer-to-Kenai shuttle, but they are looking at potentially starting such service in the fall.
“We’re always trying to expand where we can, but there’s a large push to help out (with travel) if we could,” he said.
For more information on the Alaska Bus Company, including schedule, rates and availability, visit www.alaskabuscompany.com/.
