Courtesy / City of Bangor
Construction began September 2021.
Updated: December 12, 2022
Bangor transit hub sees first upgrade in over 30 years
Courtesy / City of Bangor
The new facility better defines pedestrian and traffic flow and adds modern waiting areas. In a typical year, bus ridership is over 1 million.
The new $3.45 million Bangor Area Transit Center at the Community Connector is now open, replacing the bus depot at Pickering Square Parking Garage and including an updated facility for riders of the city’s transit service.
The new location, at 25 Water St. at Pickering Square, will provide continued services to Bangor, Brewer, Orono, Hampden, Old Town, Veazie and the University of Maine. In a typical year, bus ridership is over 1 million.
The facility was designed to be more accessible for passengers and for drivers and better defines pedestrian, public transportation and private vehicle flow. The transit center now has amenities such as EV chargers and bike storage spaces in a move to create better connections between the downtown and the waterfront.
Benchmark Construction in Westbrook was the general contractor and Artifex Architects & Engineers of Bangor was the designer. Construction was underway for 14 months beginning in September 2021; contractors are expected to finish outstanding items by Dec. 14.
The center will serve as the central bus hub for the transit system and is the first upgrade since Bangor’s bus depot was first built in 1989.
“The Community Connector is a great success story in public transit,” said U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who participated in the ribbon cutting.
The center is a 2,200-square-foot, single-story building and includes an indoor waiting area, offices, public bathrooms, bus drivers’ room and security office. The exterior includes covered waiting areas, outdoor seating, lighting and accessible passenger loading areas.
The $3.45 million in funding was provided through grants from the Federal Transit Administration and the Maine Department of Transportation, with the city of Bangor and local Community Connector partners providing a 20% match.
The facility incorporates Americans With Disabilities Act accessible elements to enhance usability and mobility. It's considered important not only for the city of Bangor but also regionally, since it serves surrounding towns.
The project came on the heels of improvements to the city’s neighboring parking garage.
Up until a couple of years ago, the first floor of the garage had a waiting area and bathrooms that served as the Community Connector depot.
The garage, built in 1988, had a primary entrance that was used by buses, cars and pedestrians. The setup created a perilous layout for pedestrians and passengers as they made their way around the vehicles.
The city moved the primary car entrance to create better flow, moved bus operations across the street to Pickering Square and installed bus shelters.
During the coldest weather, because passengers no longer had a heated waiting area, the city had a bus at the square that served as an ad hoc warming center. The facilities in the original parking garage were considered small, insufficient and dingy for people riding the bus.
The Community Connector started in the late 1960s with school busing and then airport shuttles. A fixed-route system was set up around 1970.
Today, the fleet has 22 buses, four vans and two trolleys. The buses are used for fixed routes. The vans comprise the ADA Paratransit system, a shared-ride curb-to-curb service for individuals with disabilities who are unable to use the fixed route system. The trolleys are used for community festivities and can be rented for private activities.
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