Transportation

Alaska has more than 14,000 miles of public roads, which equals a trip around the world starting in Ketchikan. The state has 820 vehicles per 1,000 population while the U.S. ratio is 750 vehicles per 1,000 population. Alaska has 738 drivers per 1,000 population while the U.S. ratio is 670 drivers per 1,000 population.
Travel is by land, air, water and space (Kodiak Launch Facility). Trucks haul from the Lower 48 to Deadhorse and everywhere in between. More than 30,000 people in Alaska are employed in the industry with a payroll exceeding $1 billion. The trucking industry moves approximately 40 percent of all the freight delivered in Alaska.
Ships barge year-round from the West Coast, and seasonal to rural communities, and air cargo is a year-round operation.
In general, aviation contributes $3.5 billion and more than 47,000 jobs to the state's economy. It's the state's fifth largest employer, providing 10 percent of Alaska's jobs.
Almost all international cargo activity is at Anchorage's Ted Stevens International Airport, ranked third worldwide for volume of cargo handled in 2006 and down slightly the last year. For decades, air carriers flying between the U.S. and the Far East have stopped to refuel, change crews and do routine maintenance. Many jets now have a range that would allow them to overfly Alaska, but most carriers still find it economical to carry a heavier payload and less fuel.
International air cargo activities at Anchorage's airport directly generate an estimated 3,500 jobs for Alaskans, including cargo handlers, couriers, cargo pilots who live in Anchorage, and others involved in cargo activities. Those activities also indirectly support about 4,000 more jobs in other industries.

Sources: Alaska Economic Trends, August 2009; State of Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities; Institute of Social and Economic Research, University of Alaska Anchorage, Scott Goldsmith, Dec. 2008; Aves Thompson, Alaska Trucking Association