March 28, 2024
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Island Explorer to add up to nine new buses

ELLSWORTH – Downeast Transportation plans to seek bids soon for five new Island Explorer buses to increase passenger capacity beginning next spring on some of its busiest Mount Desert Island runs.

Two of the new buses would replace the oldest buses in the current 17-vehicle fleet, while three would be added to the busy campground and Sand Beach runs, according to Paul Murphy, executive director of Downeast Transportation.

The bus service also expects to buy four additional new buses next fall, for a total of nine new buses, Murphy said.

The U.S. Department of Interior will contribute $1.2 million in federal alternative transportation funding for the new buses. Over the long term, increased entrance fees to Acadia National Park will help finance the bus operation.

In addition to the $1.2 million in federal funds, the Maine Department of Transportation will donate $500,000 toward the cost of the new buses, Murphy said.

Each 30-seat bus costs about $120,000, in addition to expensive technology that allows the buses to keep track of ridership and to offer electronic schedules and other features.

Although officials will seek propane-powered buses, Murphy said the Bluebird shuttle buses, which constitute the original fleet, are no longer under production.

“There are several companies and several models of propane” to choose from, Murphy said in an interview Friday.

The specifications for the new buses are almost identical to the original ones, Murphy said. He expects the first order for five new busesto be placed early in the year for spring delivery.

“We are beyond reasonable capacity for the [current] system,” Murphy said, “and we are not serving everywhere that we want to.”

The Island Explorer bus system has been a success nearly from Day One, with ridership ballooning from 140,931 in 1999 to 292,172 this year.

The growth in ridership has slowed in the last two years, however, as the system reached capacity. Meanwhile, riders’ satisfaction has declined as seats become harder to find.

According to Island Explorer data, 76 percent of riders in 2000 ranked the ease of finding an open seat as “excellent.” That figure fell to 68 percent in 2001 and to 54 percent in 2002.

“We’ve maxed out our capacity,” Len Bobinchock, Acadia deputy superintendent, told a recent meeting of the MDI League of Towns. The organization first proposed the clean-fuel bus system as a way to reduce traffic, congestion and air pollution on Maine’s most famous island.

Bobinchock told town leaders that the National Park Service will help pay for the new buses, which significantly reduce car traffic in the park.

The bus system now is funded primarily by the park and the state, although the towns and some MDI businesses also contribute to the operational costs.

Outdoor retailer L.L. Bean of Freeport also has contributed $1 million over four years to help pay for operational expenses and to expand the service through Columbus Day for the first time this year.

Murphy said Downeast Transportation has drawn down $250,000 of the Bean money.

In exchange for the annual allotment, Bean’s corporate name has been printed on the outside of all Island Explorer buses, in addition to being featured on conservation posters throughout the interior of the buses.

Ridership remains free, although riders may make donations to the service.

“I don’t believe there is going to be any requirement by the League of Towns or the communities” to pay for the new buses, Bobinchock told town managers recently.

“In my opinion, it’s because [the Island Explorer] has become institutionalized … and that’s a great success story for the League of Towns,” he said.


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