LEWISTON — Last summer’s tweaks to the citylink bus system have paid off, with 31,000 more riders projected for this year than in earlier forecasts.
“We filled in the gaps on the regular service and got rid of the inconsistencies,” Marsha Bennett, transit coordinator for the Lewiston-Auburn Transit Committee, said.
“We just fixed a lot of things,” Bennett said. “We definitely improved the overall service and it’s made it easier for people to ride.”
Since October, the beginning of the fiscal year for the L-A Transit Committee, the service has logged 89,436 rider trips, according to data presented to the committee Thursday. That’s a ridership increase of 11,669, compared to the same four months of the previous fiscal year.
A 2010 ridership study projected that scheduling and route changes would leave service levels about the same as the previous year.
Based on the first four months of the fiscal year, Bennett said, the system is expected to provide 270,000 rides — the best ridership numbers ever.
“What they projected and what we are doing, the ridership is there,” Bennett said. “This is what people wanted last summer, and you can’t argue with the numbers.”
One big change was adding Saturday service. Citylink began two Saturday routes between 9 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. The first runs through Lewiston, up College Street and across the Androscoggin River to the Auburn Mall. The second runs to New Auburn, then back through downtown Auburn to the mall.
In January, 945 people used the Saturday service, and that accounted for some of the increase.
“The Saturdays helped, and we offered free bus service on the day before Christmas,” Bennett said. Other program changes helped just as much.
Across the program, bus service was expanded to Little Canada, the B Street Community Center, Geiger and Montello elementary schools, and Lewiston Middle School in Lewiston, Auburn Middle School and Edward Little High School in Auburn, the Auburn Plaza and Auburn Mall Apartments.
“All I can say is that the improvements we put on are working,” Bennett said. “New Auburn service is now bringing people places, on both ends of the run. Before, it would go down to Great Falls and circle back. Now, it heads to Lewiston or down to Hannaford’s.”
Bennett said the decision to make the Hannaford supermarket on Spring Street the hub for Auburn was also a huge change. The system has had hubs in Auburn and Lewiston connected by a downtown shuttle since February 2004. The Auburn hub used to be in the Great Falls Plaza area.
“People have changed their schedules to use (the bus),” Bennett said. “We have people in Lewiston who take the free shuttle to Auburn to do their grocery shopping because that’s available.”
Source: Lewiston-Auburn Transit Committee
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