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V O L . X X I V N O. X X V O C T O B E R 2 9 , 2 0 1 8 20 T R A N S P O R TAT I O N / I N F R A S T R U C T U R E F O C U S She adds, "It is important to get support from employers and other businesses who have a stake in get- ting employees or customers to their business." WMTS commissioned a study last year that showed "there's a pretty sizeable pent-up demand" for area bus service, Craig Zurhost, community relations director, told Mainebiz in December. Finding ways to get workers to jobs was a major goal of the study, and immediate results included the Sugarloaf Express, which pro- vides two round-trip runs between Farmington and Carrabassett Valley to bring workers to the ski resort. A similar route from Stratton, north of Sugarloaf, was added this year. Also added was the Mountain Express, with runs to Sunday River in Newry with two routes, one from Lewiston-Auburn and the other from Rumford-Mexico. WMTS provides commuter ser- vice three days a week, soon to be four, between Rumford-Mexico and the Oxford Hills area. It plans to add the Lewiston-Auburn to Farmington commuter route next year. Shoppers, students, business people In greater Portland, providing service "is more than a challenge, but it's less than a crisis," says Egan. Recent increases in ridership, as well as an increase in funding tied to a rise in the area's population, have spurred new routes. "I've never been to so many rib- bon cuttings at the same time," she says. "We're adding and expanding all the time." Lines added this year include the Husky Line, which has round-trips to Gorham, and the Lake Region Explorer, which makes two round trips a day, five days a week, to Bridgton. New routes have come from rider preferences as urban living becomes more of a norm for both millennials and boomers. She says that on the Metro BREEZ, which runs from Portland to Falmouth, Yarmouth and Freeport, she sees "shop- pers, students, sitting next to people in suits with briefcases." Portland-area residents have four bus options — the Metro, the Regional Transportation Program, the South Portland bus system and the Shuttlebus ZOOM out of Biddeford and Saco, which provides Turnpike express service. "ey're all separate entities," Egan says. "It's very hard as a customer to figure out how to travel within the region and within the state. ere are quite a lot of resources online, but it's hard to piece it all together." Buses have wifi, but more technol- ogy, like smartphone apps to pay fares, would help increase ridership. "Public transit needs to learn from the private sector," she says. Creating a blueprint e Mobility Management Initiative is in its early stages, and its focus is still wide. Zoe Miller, a senior project man- ager at the council of governments, says the idea is to create a blueprint for what a statewide network would do, as well as ways to fund it. While funding for rural transporta- tion is always an issue — while fares cover 20% to 30% of urban service, in Maine they generally cover 3% of rural service — there are also concerns "mon- ey's being left on the table," Miller says. e effort is looking at not only commuter fixed routes, but ways to effi- ciently provide transportation in areas where those routes aren't possible. Discussion is a large part of the pro- cess as different regions of the state try to find ways to make buses work. "at's exactly why a coordinating entity is needed," Miller says. "ere's innovation in southern Maine, but they're also doing innovative things in northern Maine, and we need to be hearing those stories down here." Advocacy, too, is part of the plan. Egan adds, "We have the challenge of changing the image of public trans- portation" across the state. In Auburn, Buchanan agrees. "A big part of it is education. If you want to get workers to the factories, you have to change the whole perception of transportation." Maureen Milliken, Mainebiz staff writer, can be reached at mmilliken @ mainebiz.biz » C O N T I N U E D F RO M P R E V I O U S PA G E Public transit needs to learn from the private sector. — Kristina Egan Greater Portland Council of Governments

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