Maine transit organizations partner to offer enhanced public transit in Scarborough

The Maine Turnpike Authority (MTA), Maine Department of Transportation (MaineDOT), the town of Scarborough, Maine, and Greater Portland Metro (Metro) have entered into a partnership to enhance public transit services in Scarborough. Under the new partnership, Metro is set to provide a fixed-route transit service between Scarborough and Portland, Maine, centered along the U.S. Route 1 corridor. This will be the first project of its kind in Maine.

The MTA voted unanimously to jointly fund the new service with MaineDOT, complementing the previously awarded $1.3 million in Federal Transit Administration (FTA) funding via the Portland Area Comprehensive Transit System (PACTS) to support the new service. 

“This partnership is a model for how state, regional agencies and local governments can work together to improve transit access. We are grateful for our partners at MaineDOT, Maine Turnpike Authority, PACTS and the town of Scarborough for their investment in public transit,” said Metro Executive Director Glenn Fenton. “We’re excited to serve the Scarborough community and give more people a reliable, affordable alternative to driving.”

The MTA approved the spending of $3.5 million over five years to support this program. The agency says the partnership reinforces the MTA’s ongoing goal to improve mobility across all modes of transportation in the state.

“Widely available public transportation is essential as we work to manage growth responsibly in Scarborough as it helps ease traffic, serves our community and supports our sustainability goals,” said Scarborough Town Manager Thomas Hall. “We have an eye toward improving traffic flow and safety and recently completed a town-wide transportation study to inform our priorities. Expanded public transportation is a critical component of our vision for Scarborough’s traffic and transportation goals.”

MaineDOT notes that these projects directly align with the goals in the State Transit Plan, including:

• Increasing transit services.
• Exploring, piloting and implementing programs to address the needs of underserved populations.
• Leveraging funding and partnerships to improve public transportation in the region.

The expansion comes as part of MaineDOT’s goal to further the integration of transit services in the state, expand networks of transit and create micro-transit options aimed at dealing with the first- and last-mile challenges faced by some transit networks.

“This represents a new collaborative era between MaineDOT, the MTA and our transportation partners in how we utilize joint funding to best manage the transportation network” said MaineDOT Acting Commissioner Dale Doughty. “These projects are great example of how partnerships between agencies can deliver more efficient and connected transportation options for more Maine people.”

The new services are expected to run daily, though details of the routes, specific destinations and microtransit operations are still under consideration. Metro will consider feedback from the public, existing and potential development patterns of the surrounding area and underserved areas of the existing transit systems to aid in the determination of exact routes and schedules.

Residents will be able to share their input at future meetings that will also reevaluate routes in South Portland or through a survey hosted on Metro’s website.