Imagine this. You live 40 miles as the crow flies from your destination. You walk to the commuter rail station, get on the train, relax for the 1 ½ hour ride, arrive in the city, and take light rail/the subway to your last stop. Imagine if you could achieve this all without a car. Well, I mean you can in many states and some countries, but not in Maine. Though from the outside it may seem as hot as a winter in Madawaska, public transit in Maine is a pretty hot debate. There are many arguments. Buses, light rail, Bus Rapid Transit, and/or commuter rail (like the Downeaster). I’ve even heard someone advocating for small airplane transit like that in Alaska for the smaller towns and villages in northern and northwestern Maine.

Context

In the turn of the 19th into the 20th century Maine had a fantastic system of rail. Maine had one of the first railroads in North America, the Old Veazie Railroad, which ran from Milford to Bangor first starting in 1836. Then you had the Grand Trunk Railroad with lines going from Canada, through New Hampshire, and then through Bethel, South Paris, and then terminating in Lewiston. There was also had a major Grand Trunk Railroad presence in Portland with the (now gone) Grand Trunk Station and a large warehouse which is now where the new Wex headquarters is being constructed. There was also the Portland-Lewiston Interurban, which ran at speeds up to 80 miles per hour between the years of 1914 and 1933. And all that doesn’t even touch the surface of the rail system in Maine.

In more recent news, the Downeaster (the only public rail service in the state) has been smashing records, as noted in a Portland Press Herald Article;

The Amtrak Downeaster finished its fiscal year with the highest number of passengers since 2014, beating its ridership goals by almost 9 percent. The passenger train between Boston and Brunswick carried 511,422 passengers in the year that ended June 30, closing in on the record of 518,572 riders set in 2014. Revenue also beat projections, with $8.6 million in ticket sales, a 7 percent bump from last year.

(McGuire, 2017)

Another success in recent years for transit in Maine is that Concord Coach Lines has expanded their presence in Maine with a new transportation center off the I-95 exit in Auburn, and the City of Auburn’s Downtown Transportation Center providing a better city bus service. There have been issues regarding highway carrying capacity in Portland, the Maine Turnpike Authority is planning on widening a portion of Interstate 95 in Portland, and recently the MaineDOT has just realized now what commuters have known for a while that I-295 around Portland is a complete… poop parade.

Long story short, Maine transportation used to be fantastic but now it’s a complete circus that nobody knows how to/can fix.

Around the United States in bigger, metropolitan areas you would establish some sort of mass transit division and call it a day (MBTA, SEPTA, MTA, etc.). But Maine has a big issue. The population of Maine is 1.3 million (ranked 42nd) with an average density of 43 people per square mile (ranked 38). Maine’s biggest city is Portland with a population of almost 67,000, an exhaustive list of public transit options includes the Downeaster, Uber and Lyft (does that count as public transportation?), a greater Portland Metro bus, Concord and Greyhound coach services, the Casco ferry service, the CAT ferry, and the Portland International Jetport. That doesn’t seem too bad, but it’s still limited and messy. So, here’s what I think.

Vehicular

Maine as a whole needs cars because we’re so rural. It would be impossible to service a good majority of the state’s population through public transit because of the lack of density. In order to keep our major cities dense, growing, and desirable, we must eliminate the need for cars for living and working within the urban limits, but we can’t forget to service rural Maine’s need for the car. What we need to do is to limit the need for cars in the cities, but provide free parking for outside the city where people can board the train, bus, or other public transportation into the city.

If you travel from exit 42 in Scarborough to exit 109 in Augusta, you would take I-295 instead of I-95 because it’s half an hour faster, but both are $5 in total tolls. I really don’t think it makes sense for it to cost the same, if I took the less travelled I-95 to Augusta, shouldn’t I get a little bit of a discount? If I want to go to Augusta faster and take I-295 shouldn’t I pay a little bit more? In my opinion tolling the section of I-95 in downtown Portland would lessen the usage of the highway a little bit and make it safer which would fix the issue that the MaineDOT has.

Passenger Rail and Interurbans

In my research paper Old Town, New City, I mentioned that a passenger rail service going from Mount Desert Island to Old Town to the Katahdin Woods and Waters would be beneficial to tourism;

As passenger rail in Maine keeps surpassing itself, we have to wonder where the

next rail line will be. I stand firmly in my belief that a rail line running between Mount Desert Island to the Millinocket/Katahdin region. A rail line could initially run from Ellsworth to Millinocket with stops in between in Bangor, Old Town, and Lincoln. A good portion of this line could use preexisting freight lines, according to the Maine Rail System 2016 map by the MaineDOT, owned by Pan-Am Railways (Running from Bangor to Mattawamkeag), a very small portion in Millinocket owned by the Central Maine and Quebec Railway, and another rail line owned by the State of Maine but operated by the Downeast Scenic Railroad Company. However, the train would have to take a roughly 70-mile detour (which would add approximately an hour to the trip) from Mattawamkeag to Brownville Junction and back up to Millinocket since there is no direct route from Mattawamkeag to Millinocket. A new rail line connection at Brownville Junction would have to be made, as well. But the preferable option is to build a new 20-mile corridor directly from Mattawamkeag to Millinocket. In the future, an extension of the rail line could also be done from Ellsworth, Maine to Trenton, Maine to give a more direct trip between the train line and Acadia National Park. Such a rail line would prove extremely beneficial for Maine; tourists could enjoy Mount Desert Island in the Morning, kayak on the Penobscot River and shop in Old Town during noon-time, and in the

afternoon, appreciate what Baxter State Park and the Katahdin Woods and Waters

National Monument has to offer. A rail line like this would transform Maine’s tourism industry for the better, and it would prove extremely beneficial for Old Town. Ecotourists would be traveling from MDI to Katahdin, and they would find themselves in Old Town, the home of the famous Old Town Canoe Co. This rail line would be the driving force of Old Town’s ecotourist economy. Not only would it be beneficial to tourists, but also to University of Maine students who want to spend their weekend at either MDI or Katahdin. Ellsworth already has a train station that is used by the Downeast Scenic Railroad, Millinocket does not have any station, but Old Town has a former station turned redemption center on Water Street. The former station has five rail tracks that remain operational. Renovation of the former station to serve its conceived purpose once again could be a huge economical advantage to Old Town.

(Moreau, 26-28)

That is one, but not the only passenger rail line which would be beneficial to Maine’s transportation infrastructure. As Portland is the biggest city and the surrounding area is the most developed, one would say that commuter rail similar to that of the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority would be beneficial, but I really don’t think so. The reason why MBTA commuter rail is so successful is because it has the population of the surrounding area and the funds that come with population and growth to sustain it. With the situation that Maine is in with very low density (compared to Massachusetts, the parts of Portland outside the Old Port district look like Brookline), passenger rail would have to be planned very carefully. Instead of rolling stock similar to what the MBTA has, we could use DMU (Diesel Multiple Units) which are not only more compact but are much less expensive. For international lines, there have been discussions of bringing back a train line from Lewiston/Auburn to Montreal, Canada (with stops in Bethel, South Paris, and New Hampshire like the historic line had). But I think there’s a line that people should be talking about; Lewiston, to Livermore Falls/Rumford, then the Carrabasset Valley region, then terminating in Quebec City. Personally, I think a line to Quebec City would be better since I heard from a few of my French Major friends that QC is more beautiful and historic than Montreal, but there’s only so much you can trust when it comes from word of mouth. The thing is, there is no rail track past the Rumford mills until the Canadian border, construction of which would end up being a big expense.

A passenger train like in MBTA might be too big for service between Portland and Lewiston/Auburn. I propose we bring back the small interurban. High-speed (80mph like the 1914 Interurban) single car (or small like a streetcar) rail transport. This would be better as opposed to a heavy rail train because there may not be the needed traffic to sustain such a line between small cities. It would also be preferable to a bus since it would be faster (as long as the 80mph speed is maintained here), smoother, and if it’s publicly subsidized, cheaper. Another added bonus is that because of its size and lightness, it would be cheaper to maintain than a heavy rail train. There is also the issue with all of these rail lines that a good portion if not all are rail corridors are owned by freight train companies. The Downeaster runs on these sorts of lines (Thus the MaineDOT classifies these rail corridors as shared), but we would need to construct rail passing siding.

Buses, Light Rail, and Streetcars

Nearly every major city in Maine has a public bus system, but nobody likes them because they’re rough, loud, dirty, and uncomfortable. Portland has recently looked at electric buses, and this is a big step in the right direction. Electric buses are modern, clean, comfortable (no engine vibrations), and relatively quiet compared to diesel. In the United States, Light Rail is making a comeback. There is also Bus Rapid Transit where buses travel in dedicated lanes, which often costs a fraction of what light rail costs. But Even then, streetcars cost less than Bus Rapid Transit because it uses the existing street where with Bus Rapid Transit, you need to create lanes and widen the street to accommodate the bus.

So, when all is said and done, the real options for Maine cities are Streetcars and electric buses (no Bus Rapid Transit or Light Rail because of the cost and space needed of such infrastructure). The pros of the streetcar:

– greater capacity

– are more affordable long-term (since you can fit more passengers in one than a bus, that means fewer vehicles)

– when you see the streetcar rails you know you’re on the right route

– they stand out more (they also don’t have the Bus Stigma where some/most people are ashamed to take the bus, and they also attract more riders)

– more comfortable

– Promote economic development where the rails give a sense of permanence. If there are the rails, you know it’s going to come (This past semester I waited in the bus stop for hours with others and no bus arrived. There wasn’t even a notification on the bus app, and before anyone asks, yes it was on a day it was supposed to run on)

– Quieter, and cleaner than traditional buses (though this also exists with electric buses)

On the other hand, buses are cheaper (usually), more flexible, and can skip ahead which may be advantageous if another bus breaks down (if a streetcar breaks down on the line, it halts all other streetcars, but this would be very rare (if not never) if they are properly maintained). Personally? I prefer streetcars all the way because of all those big advantages.

A Connected System

Right now, public transit in Maine is maintained by the Maine Department of Transportation. However, I think it would be advantageous bureaucracy-wise if public transit was operated by a dedicated department (possibly a sub-department of the MaineDOT). Right now, we have the MTA which stands for the Maine Turnpike Authority, which operates the turnpikes of Maine which have profits. If the MTA was rebranded to the Maine Transit Authority, all the profits from the turnpikes, public rail, streetcars, public buses, and other types of transit, would be pooled to operate and maintain said operations. Just like the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority and many like it across the nation. When we want to expand passenger rail, the MTA would use the profits specifically for that and not have to worry about fixing roads. Something that the MBTA does which would need to be done for a better consolidated transit system is an electronic card which can be used in any Maine Transit Authority operation. The MBTA has the CharlieCard where you add money online and use the RFID scanner on the subway/buses. The MTBA also has the app where you can add funds and have the ticket there on the app for the commuter rail. The Maine Transit Authority would have to have the app and the card for ease of use and efficiency.

Because I wanted to, here is a completely theoretical/conceptual map of a Maine Transit Authority System counting only passenger rail, and street cars. I am not counting buses as that would be too much more work, and we could just keep the existing system of buses we have. This also counts the Downeaster which is operated by Amtrak. The line running from Bangor to Augusta and down, goes to Brunswick, Freeport, and terminates in Portland though it is not shown.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=1SDCOzEr888M2Y0pwGjndtllCZupJZY9-