Fairbanks without a car…things to do

[JeanneEDW]

We are staying at Westmark Fairbanks and will be there one day before our tour begins. It appears the Morris Thompson Cultural Center is within walking distance. Do they have shuttles from there to the Univ of AK museum, the Antique Auto Museum, etc., or will we need to use a taxi?

[Anita Latte]

I don’t recall there being any shuttle services from the Cultural Center but we were there in March… The Cultural Center was enjoyable…good exhibits and information. I bet the River is beautiful when it’s running…it was completely iced over and covered in snow when we were there. We still got a photo under the antler arch and walked around that park…there’s a monument there that is pretty impressive.

 

We went to the Museum of the North and Fountainhead…LOVED Fountainhead…the University museum was good also…very informative as such things are.

 

I think there’s a fairly good public bus system and likely you could get to the university easy enough on it… it sure about Fountainhead as that’s a bit more off the beaten path and tucked back…but maybe.

[Northern Aurora]

The Morris Thompson is within easy walking distance from the Westmark.  There are no shuttles from the MTCC to the Museum of the North (which is located on the University of Alaska Fairbanks), nor are there shuttles from the MTCC to the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum.    

 

There have never been shuttles, but there may be some confusion regarding the Fountainhead trolley service which operated pre-Covid 19.  Fountainhead is a development company, which in addition to developing commercial property, the Antique Auto Museum and residential subdivisions, owns several hotel properties.  Pre-covid they operated a for fee shuttle route for their hotel guests which included stops at their auto museum in addition to the Museum of the North and some other attractions.  Since covid that shuttle has not resumed and in any event was restricted to folks staying at their hotel properties.

 

The bus system mentioned in post #2 is the Metropolitan Area Commuter System (MACS).  It is not operated by the City of Fairbanks.  It is operated by the Fairbanks North Star Borough.  Goggle the FNSB home page and you will find the link to public transportation.  I took a quick look, and it appears you would use the Blue Line.  The Blue Lines runs along College Road, so would get you close to the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum.  Also, the MACS transit center is even closer to the Westmark than the MTCC.

 

To complicate matter a little more, once on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus there is a on campus shuttle (not related to the MACS system).  Apparently it now runs out to the Large Animal Research Station (LARS).  LARS is locally called the "muskox farm."  LARS is a UAF research site but is not located on the campus proper.  Our OP may have to do some digging for more information.

 

Fairbanks has an abundance of taxis.  We also have Uber but my impression is that Uber is not as available as in other areas.

[JeanneEDW]

Thank you very much! 

[AKJonesy]

MACS bus as mentioned is easy and runs pretty often depending on the day.  https://www.macstransit.com/349/Metropolitan-Area-Commuter-System-MACS

You can also track the busses live.  

[JeanneEDW]

Thanks!