Maine Alliance for Sustainable Transportation (MAST) Submits Bill Request to 125th Legislature

Bill to Expand Zoom Bus Service is Premised on Fiscal Responsibility

CONTACT:
Jane West, CLF: (207) 210-6439 x11 or jwest@clf.org

PORTLAND, ME  JANUARY 11, 2011– A program proposed by the Maine Alliance for Sustainable Transportation (MAST) will increase commuter transit options, reduce household expenditures on gasoline and diesel, increase employment opportunities and productivity and reduce government expenditures by expanding the routes of the highly-successful ZOOM Turnpike Express bus services along the Maine Turnpike corridor. The program would also establish a fund for the improved maintenance of Maine’s roadways.

Representative Bradley Moulton, a newly-elected Republican from the 149^th District (York, Wells, Kittery, Ogunquit) is the lead sponsor of the bill. Legislators from both parties have enthusiastically signed onto the bill as sponsors.

The proposal seeks to expand the ZOOM bus service to Lewiston and Auburn and to Park-and-Ride lots in Kennebunk and Wells and to increase the frequency of service between Portland and Biddeford and Saco. In addition, the proposal would add limited bus service between Augusta and Portland.

“Financially, this bill just makes a lot of sense for a fiscally-strapped state like Maine,” said Jane West, staff attorney for the Conservation Law Foundation, one of the steering committee members of MAST. “Instead of spending $56 million on a tollbooth or $150 million to widen a couple of miles of highway, this bill will serve thousands of commuters, reduce traffic congestion and provide a much-needed alternative to paying three dollars and more per gallon at the pump, for a fraction of the cost of any other solution.”

The bill directs the Maine Turnpike Authority to reallocate funds from fiscally-imprudent projects to the more transit-friendly ZOOM bus service. In addition, the bill directs the Authority to establish a state highway fund, to which it will allocate at least three percent of its annual revenues, for statewide road maintenance.

“Lewiston/Auburn, one of the state’s more populated urban hubs, is frequently left out of regional transportation planning. This bill, which proposes at least 16 daily round trips between Portland and Lewiston/Auburn, plus limited weekend service, goes a long way towards addressing that deficiency,” said Nicola Wells, a Lewiston resident and organizer for the League of Young Voters, also a steering committee member of MAST.