By K.T. McKee and the Anchorage Daily News.

WASILLA -- The pink-painted buses are hard to miss while driving your gas guzzler to Anchorage on the Glenn Highway every day.

They not only carry bold messages of how much money you're bound to save if you hop aboard, they carry commuters like network specialist Harvey Tanttila and senior disability services professional Sue Darby to their state offices every morning.

They also carry the entrepreneurial dreams of insatiable Big Lake businessman Mokie Tew and his wife of 25 years, Roberta.

And until they start transporting at least three times as many residents as they are now, they also carry a bit of debt and anxiety for the Tews.

"Right now, until ridership picks up, it's costing us a lot of money," Mokie Tew, 48, said Wednesday at his bus yard at Mile 50 of the Park Highway as the former People Mover buses began returning at the end of the day.

"We're losing over $20,000 a month. I thought people would come faster. But we're not going to give up. I'm sure it will pick up."

STARTED IN MARCH

They call it "Valley Mover" and it's been on the road only since mid-March after the Tews purchased a dozen buses from the city of Anchorage to fulfill a long-time vision of providing cheap, fast mass transit between the Valley and Anchorage.

The owners and operators of Tew's Tire and Automotive and a few other income-generating ventures in the Valley, the high school sweethearts so far have managed to provide up to 80 commuters a day with a comfortable, cost-effective alternative to driving their own cars back and forth.

"We've gone from zero riders to 80 in five months, so who knows how many riders we'll have in the next five months," said Tew, who last month visited the Mat-Su Borough Assembly to make sure the members are aware of the service so that perhaps someday they can help him secure grants or other subsidies to help keep Valley Mover afloat.

He said former Borough Manager John Duffy was helping him find funding, but his June retirement seemed to put an end to that.

COST: ABOUT $5 A DAY

As daily Valley Mover riders, Tanttila and Darby said they can't imagine having to go without it again. They both purchased a monthly bus pass for $100, which allows them to ride round-trip for only $5 per day.

Tanttila, who had endured the tedious Glenn Highway commute for 10 years before discovering Valley Mover in May, said being able to catch the 5:30 a.m. bus at the Hyer Road Shell station each weekday is the best thing since personal computers.

He not only saves an estimated $100 per month in gas and wear-and-tear on his vehicle, but he's gained an extra two hours per day in leisure time or "think time" because he doesn't have to worry about focusing on the road during the commute.

"I do everything from reading to e-mailing and can even take a nap, if I choose," said the husband of a Valley teacher. "And my wife doesn't have to worry about me driving anymore. Since we have a smaller car, it's more prone to something drastic happening if I'm ever in an accident."

And when he walks the two blocks to his office at the Atwood Building from where the bus docks at the Anchorage museum, he's so much more relaxed, he said.

Living seven miles off Wasilla-Fishhook Road, he said he did try carpooling with co-workers and the Mascot van service, but neither seemed to meet his needs as well as Valley Mover.

POTENTIAL $1 MILLION SAVINGS

A couple of hours after Tanttila boards his bus, Palmer mother of two Darby catches another bus at the same Parks Highway spot after parking her 10-year-old Pontiac Grand Am in the gas station's parking lot.

"We love this car to death, but it has a front right wheel issue at higher speeds and just really isn't safe for the highway right now," said Darby, who has ridden the 7:15 Valley Mover bus to her job in downtown Anchorage for the past few months and loves it.

Like Tanttila, she is hoping more and more commuters will join them so that the Tews will keep the buses running.

"The best part is, when the bus drops me at the Museum at Seventh and C, I get to walk five blocks to my office, which is quite relaxing and gives me some exercise," Darby said.

The Tews joked about giving "VIP service" to riders who pay a little extra -- such as providing "sleeper seats" or cocktails at the end of the day -- but they realize it's serious business.

"Each bus has 38 seats and there are 10 trips to Anchorage and back every day. If we could just fill every seat and get all of our buses up and running, we'd be doing quite well and putting $1 million back into the local economy and borough from all the money commuters would be saving," Mokie said. "So far, though, we just haven't been able to turn that faucet on."

As the last of the day's buses pulled into the garage for a cleaning, Roberta Tew smiled at the man she's loved since the 10th grade, gave him a warm kiss and whispered, "I am living the American dream."

 http://www.adn.com/2010/08/12/1407795/valley-mover-a-hit-with-riders.html