Where is Maine’s future going? Regardless, it’s going there on a ZOOM bus. Or at least, that’s the hope of the 26 co-sponsors of LD 673, the bill that proposes to expand the ZOOM bus system to serve additional locations based on rapid growth in demand. The ZOOM bill was the focus of a well-attended press conference held today at the state house in Augusta by the Maine Alliance for Sustainable Transportation (MAST), the steering committee of which includes CLF’s own Jane West. The press conference featured speeches by three of the bill’s co-sponsors–Rep. Bradley Moulton (R-York), Rep. Ben Chipman (I-Portland) and Sen. Justin Alfond (D-Portland)–as well as other local transportation advocates. More >

Larry King gets a shocker when guest star, Sarah Palin, makes an intelligent and logical pitch for mass transit in Maine!

Bottom line: If you don’t want to listen to us, at least listen to Sarah. The ZOOM proposal would expand mass transit between Maine’s largest cities, increasing the current service between Portland and Biddeford and Saco and adding routes between Portland and Lewiston/Auburn and Augusta–and with full buses and park-and-ride facilities at capacity, it’s a service that Maine commuters desperately need. The proposed bill, introduced in January, would increase commuter transit options, reduce household expenditures on gasoline and diesel, increase employment opportunities and productivity and reduce government expenditures.

Want to know more? Now’s the perfect time to get on board. Speak out in support of the ZOOM bill at a public hearing this Tuesday, March 22 at 1 p.m. at the State House in Augusta. Prior to the hearing, CLF and the Maine Alliance for Sustainable Transportation (MAST) will host a press conference beginning at noon in the same location. It’s the perfect chance to learn more, get your questions answered and hear straight from the bill’s co-sponsors why they think the ZOOM proposal is essential to Maine’s development. Details at www.clf.org/events.

A new report from the Washington, D.C. –based Brookings Institution found that two of Maine’s metro areas drive 54% of the state’s economic output, amounting to $2.7 billion dollars in gross domestic product.  Portland-South Portland-Biddeford and the Lewiston-Auburn areas are also responsible for creating 51% of the jobs here in Maine, despite only accounting for 47% of the population.  Currently, the ZOOM bus service provides limited yet very successful service between Portland and Biddeford.

Representative Moulton’s bill, LD 673, “An Act to Expand Fiscally Responsible Transportation Through Increased ZOOM Bus Service,” seeks to improve that existing service and add a much needed route up to the economic hub of Lewiston-Auburn.  This critical and long overdue link would connect 106,539 L/A residents with 266,800 jobs in the Portland-Biddeford area, according to the Brookings Institution report.  The report notes that 60.4% of the state’s innovation workers are located in the Portland metro area.   Doesn’t it make sense to connect major population hubs with innovative jobs?  That is what the ZOOM bus bill contemplates, all with the comfort of modern wi-fi access to provide for a better connected, more productive work force.

The report also credits the Bangor area with 11% of the state’s economic output.  Imagine increasing bus service to the Bangor area after the successful implementation of the current bill to reach a trifecta of economic growth, job creation and mass transit.  According to the report, these metropolitan areas represent the engines of state economic growth and concentrate the assets critical to building the “Next Economy.”  And while that is very exciting news, the fact is, we can’t afford to ignore the mass transit connections that will help move the people of the state of Maine forward in a competitive economy.