Ninilchik Traditional Council expands public bus service

Published 9:30 pm Monday, January 5, 2026

BUMPS, the community bus service provided by the Ninilchik Traditional Council, will now be travelling their usual Homer-Kenai route five days a week.

Since its inception, BUMPS has operated three days a week — Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Now, thanks to an increase in grant funding from the Federal Transit Administration, NTC Tribal Management Assistant Jayke Cooper said Monday, the transportation program is able to expand their operating schedule.

“There’s always been the idea to expand our service — there’s a huge transportation gap to fill on the peninsula,” Cooper said. “We’re excited to be able to offer this service five days a week for everybody.”

According to their website, BUMPS aims to serve the Kenai Peninsula community, including non-drivers, senior citizens and people with special needs, and reduce transportation obstacles by connecting people to local educational and medical facilities, employment and commerce. Operating out of Ninilchik, the fixed bus route currently includes stops in Happy Valley, Anchor Point, Homer, Clam Gulch, Kasilof, Soldotna and Kenai. Passengers needing to be picked up in Happy Valley, Anchor Point, Clam Gulch and Kasilof are asked to contact BUMPS ahead of time.

Aside from the added days of operation, the schedule, route and fees for riding with BUMPS remains the same.

Cooper said that NTC is looking for another permanent driver, and for the time being is only operating one bus, with the other two in the fleet serving as backups. However, the five-day schedule will remain in effect for the foreseeable future.

“We intend to provide service five days a week as long as we can,” he said. “The big question is always funding — it is difficult to maintain, but we’ll provide it so long as we can and do our best to help people and bring together the communities.”

Learn more about BUMPS at www.ninilchiktribe-nsn.gov/bumps/.