<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2tDk4O_0zzhHeoT00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2tDk4O_0zzhHeoT00" width="1250" height="703" ><figcaption>A local public transit shuttle in Sanford. Programs like these need more funding in order to meet the public transit needs statewide. (Spectrum News/Sean Murphy)</figcaption></figure>AUGUSTA – A new report finds that Maine doesn’t have nearly enough public transportation, despite a proliferation of rail and local shuttle bus and van services.The biennial report, released this week, comes from the Public Transit Advisory Council, a board that advises the state’s departments of transportation, labor and health and human services.Authors wrote that about 40,000 households in Maine “lack reliable access to a vehicle.” About 3,000 Mainers commute via public transit to work, the report found, with one in six spending an hour or longer going one way.Despite the needs, the report found existing public transit satisfies just 11% of the estimated needs. Josh Caldwell, the council’s vice chair, said the problem is more notable in rural areas, such as Aroostook County, but unmet transportation needs exist statewide.“For those folks who don’t have access to a vehicle, can’t drive or choose not to drive, public transit is a really essential service to them, so we need to expand service to ensure that they can actually get to where they need to go,” he said.Caldwell said it’s not a lack of public transit options that are the problem; rail service, such as the Amtrak Downeaster, is an established line connecting many communities in southern Maine. Throughout the state, he said, various public organizations offer van and shuttle bus service to bring people to grocery stores, medical appointments and other essential locations.But the programs that exist are underfunded and in perennial danger of closing down, Caldwell said. Even established programs should be expanded.The report offered a number of other recommendations, including improving coordination by state agencies that fund transportation, making public transit funding and decision-making more transparent and supporting programs catering to older adults.</div></body>

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AUGUSTA – A new report finds that Maine doesn’t have nearly enough public transportation, despite a proliferation of rail and local shuttle bus and van services. The biennial report, released this week, comes from the Public Transit Advisory Council, a board that advises the state’s departments of transportation, labor and health and human services.

Report: Maine needs more public transit

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AUGUSTA – A new report finds that Maine doesn’t have nearly enough public transportation, despite a proliferation of rail and local shuttle bus and van ser

Report: Maine needs more public transit

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