There is a myth outside of Alaska that Alaskans primarily use dog teams and snowmachines for transportation. This is one of the few myths of Alaska that is at least partially true. There are huge sections of rural Alaska where snowmachines, dog teams, and small planes and helicopters are the only way to move goods and people. At least in the winter. During the summer, we can add watercraft to the mix. But the truth is that there are few roads in Alaska, and the roads that do exist north are often in extremely poor shape with tremendous potholes, frost heaves, narrow blind spots, etc. Anyone who has driven the Alaska Highway between the rural community of Tok and Fairbanks, for example, can tell horror stories of washboard conditions that slow travel down to 3 or 4 miles per hour. In other parts of rural Alaska, there are, of course, no roads at all. In those communities, planes, boats and four-wheelers in the summer and snowmachines in the winter are the only option for distance travel. These "off-road" communities have the highest costs of living anywhere in the US.
In this section, the students will explore transportation in rural Alaska. Here are some of the issues we will examine:
- how does the lack of modern transportation affect the price and availability of goods and services in rural Alaska?
- how are food, medical/health care, fuel, and other necessities transportation in Alaska?
- what technologies do rural Alaskans use to move about?
- how is rural Alaska community health affected by transportation issues?
- are different parts of the state affected in different way by transportation problems?
- what is the future of transportation in rural Alaska?
- how do fuel prices affect the availability of transportation?
- what has the state done to build and maintain transportation structure and infrastructure?
- how has the federal government (especially the US military) become involved in transportation issues?
