'Commuter' bus route from Lewiston-Auburn to Farmington is up and running
Photo / Maureen Milliken
A bus on the Western Maine Transportation Green line, from Farmington to Lewiston, approaches the stop at Central Plaza in Livermore Falls. The service began March 25, and makes daily stops Monday through Friday.
More Information
A daily bus route between Lewiston-Auburn and Farmington, cited as a top priority in a 2017 transportation plan for the area and expected to ease workforce issues, is up and running.
The Western Maine Transportation Service Monday through Friday route began March 25 and graduated from pilot status May 1. While a primary focus is to give a way for people in upper Androscoggin and Franklin counties a way to get to jobs in Lewiston-Auburn, it's much more than that, said Sandy Buchanan, general manager of the Auburn-based transit service, which provides public and social service transportation to Androscoggin, Franklin and Oxford counties, as well as Brunswick.
"It connects parts of the more rural areas [of the region] to the urban center," Buchanan said. "It's a great opportunity for everybody." She said residents, who are used to demand-response social service busing, where riders call up for ride and the bus picks them up. Standard public busing hasn't been a reality in the area for decades.
"People ask me things like, 'Can I take it in the summer in Wilton to go to the lake?'" Buchanan said.
The answer is yes.
"This is an honest-to-goodness public transit route," Buchanan said. "It's a return to something people aren't used to."
Craig Zurhorst, community relations manager at the transit service, said area residents are warming to the concept that they don't have to get on a the bus in Lewiston or Auburn and take it all the way to Farmington, or vice-versa.
"They can get off in Turner," he said. "They can get on it Turner, or anywhere on the route. People are beginning to realize that."
The route was one of the two most critically needed routes in a study commissioned by the transit service detailing public desire and economic need, for transportation options. Released in August 2017, the study by engineering firm AECOM in partnership with the state Department of Transportation, surveyed thousands of residents of the region.
The other top priority route is Lisbon to Brunswick, which the service hopes to establish soon, if the resources for it can be established.
That link would connect the service's Lisbon Connection, which runs from Lewiston to Lisbon Falls, to Brunswick, where the service operates the Brunswick Explorer. In the not very far future, someone could take public bus transportation from Portland to Rangeley, or Sugarloaf in Carrabassett Valley, in northern Franklin County, or even farther, to Stratton, all on public commuter bus service.
Connecting workers and jobs
The importance of getting the Lewiston-Auburn-to-Farmington route established was underlined when Barclaycard closed its Wilton call center in February, Buchanan said.
There are a variety of call centers in Lewiston-Auburn, as well as similar customer service jobs, but many people in rural Franklin County don't have the reliable transportation to get to them.
"[The route] was one of the top ones on our priority list, but it became even more important when Barclay closed in Wilton," Buchanan said. With more than 200 people losing their jobs, "It was an opportunity for people who were displaced to get an equivalent job, without the additional cost of buying a car, or buying a second car."
Zurhorst also said that while many people in the rural parts of Franklin and Androscoggin county may have a car, it may not be a reliable one.
The route makes two morning round-trips and two evening ones, the first bus leaving Farmington at 5:05 a.m.and the final bus arriving in Farmington at 7:35 p.m. It travels on Route 4 and makes stops in Wilton, Jay, Livermore, Livermore Falls, Turner and three in Auburn, before arriving at the Oak Street bus station in Lewiston. One way from Farmington to Lewiston takes an hour and 25 minutes.
The buses are equipped with wifi. "There's the ability to do work, catch up on email, rather than sitting in your car in traffic behind a Winnebago or a truck," Zurhorst said.
Lack of resources
After the 2017 study came out, the service started small with a once-a-month Rangeley-Farmington route and the Sugarloaf Express, which runs seven days a week from Farmington 40 miles up Route 27 to help address a worker shortage at the resort.
The service, in conjunction with the ski resort and the town of Carrabassett Valley, is separate from the Sugarloaf Explorer, a popular seasonal shuttle for skiers.
"Our biggest surprise first out of the box was the Sugarloaf Express," said Zurhorst. "It really exceeded ridership predictions." He said a second run, from Stratton, north of Carrabassett Valley, to the resort was used less, but the area is more sparsely populated. The Mountain Express, which runs seasonally from Lewiston-Auburn to the Sunday River ski area in Bethel, was also successful.
The next priority is the Lisbon to Brunswick run, which could connect people as far away as Franklin County to jobs in the Bath/Brunswick area, including at BIW and Brunswick Landing, where Wayfair and SaviLinx both have large call centers. Another priority is a spur off the Lewiston-Auburn to Farmington Green Line up Route 108 to the Rumford, Mexico and Dixfield area.
There's no solid timeline for when those would be added, Buchanan said.
"The biggest holdup is resources," she said. Not only paying for the buses, but finding qualified drivers and mechanics.
The transportation service is a nonprofit organization, funded 80% through federal grants, and the rest must be generated in other ways.
Fares on the new route ranges from $3 to $5, depending on where the rider gets on and off.
The service accepts cash for the exact fare, but also has a SmartCommute card and mobile pay app, where riders can load up to $150 to be used for fares.
Economic development issue
Buchanan, on April 30, testified before the Legislature's Transportation Committee in favor of a bill, L.D. 1258, that will provide more support for rural public transportation in order to ease workforce issues and strengthen the economy.
"Public transit provides mobility, enhances economic development, can shape land use and development patterns, support public policies surrounding air quality, energy use, and carbon emissions," she told the committee. "Public transit enhances public safety and supports greater involvement in the community."
She cited a study that found that using public transportation rather than buying a car, or adding a second car, can save a household more than $10,000 annually, and that for every dollar invested in public transit there is a return of 3.5 times the investment. She echoed those statistics in her interview with Mainebiz.
The bill calls for $10 million in 2019-20, and another $10 million in 2020-21 for public transportation, $9 million of which, in each fiscal period, would support service expansion for transit services across the state.
Buchanan and Zurhost stressed that the state transportation department has been a big part of the advances WMTS has made in the past two years.
But Buchanan said that money allocation has to be looked at. While money is provided for transportation "What's making the cut?" as far as where it's going, she asked.
Also underway is the Maine Mobility Management Initiative, in which ransit services, government, businesses and social service agencies are studying how they can connect. The effort is an offshoot of the state's Public Transit Advisory Council.
Agencies across the state are beginning to think more regionally, Buchanan said. She noted how the new Green Line route addresses both the needs of residents of rural areas, as well as the the more urban ones that are looking for workers.
"It's not an urban or a rural priority, it's a regional priority," she said.
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments