LEWISTON — The Lewiston-Auburn Transit Committee is considering adding a bus fare to the Citylink downtown shuttle, which has remained free for years.

Marsha Bennett, transit coordinator for Lewiston-Auburn’s Citylink bus service, said the committee considered adding the standard $1.50 fare following a recent passenger survey showing that many of its riders are not using it as a shuttle between downtown Lewiston and Auburn.

Instead, she said, many use the route to transfer to other routes, where they would be paying the fare anyway. 

“The committee knows it’s going to impact some people, but the majority of people are already paying to make that trip,” she said Wednesday. 

The committee will host two public meetings next week to gain feedback on the proposal, but if all goes as planned, the fee would be implemented May 2.

Bennett said the primary purpose of a shuttle route is to be a “people mover” bus, and that the downtown shuttle was originally meant to run every 30 minutes between the downtowns. The idea was to cater to people who might use the bus to go out to lunch or for other needs without having to move their car.  

“It never happened that way,” she said. “It’s not a shuttle as much as it was intended.”

The downtown shuttle runs hourly, and Bennett said most people are either transferring or are already using monthly bus passes, meaning the added fare would not impact them.

A service study done by a consultant in 2016 also recommended adding a fare to the downtown shuttle. Citylink’s mall shuttle route remains free. 

She said the added fare is not going to give Citylink a large increase in fare revenue.

“It’s not going to balance the budget,” she said. 

The first public meeting is scheduled for 2 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 13, at Auburn Hall. The next meeting is set for 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 15, at Lewiston City Hall. 

Bennett said the committee attempted to come up with varying meeting times that could work for a bus ridership. 

Citylink funding still questioned in Auburn

At an Auburn City Council workshop Monday, Bennett gave the new councilors a presentation on the Citylink service heading into this year’s budget season — with hope that the city might return transportation funding that was previously cut. 

For decades, the two cities funded the system at a 50-50 split, but she said it is now more like 56-44 after the Auburn council cut funding in 2016 when a new contract was approved with transit provider Western Maine Transportation Service. 

She said the figure cut was roughly $50,000, but with matching federal transportation funds, it equaled about $100,000. The gap eventually resulted in service cuts to the New Auburn route. 

Bennett told the council Monday that if Auburn went back to the previous funding amount for next year’s budget, the service would likely go back to its 2016 schedule. 

At the meeting, Councilor Leroy Walker said the transit committee was punishing riders in Auburn because the city did not give “a few extra thousand dollars.”

Councilor Andrew Titus, who was on the council when the funding cut was made, said the city did not feel a 50-50 split was fair based on service levels. 

“It might have been in 1976, but not now,” he said. 

Bennett said Auburn officials knew that any cuts in service that would come from the reduced funding would be made in Auburn. Those decisions came last spring when a bus was taken out of service and the New Auburn route saw a 55 percent decrease in service. 

She told councilors that the funding level has led to “increased wait times” and decreased service.”

She said her office received a call recently about a senior program hoping to shuttle seniors from Barker Mill Arms apartments to bowl at Sparetime Recreation in Lewiston. She said in order to make that trip now, the seniors would have a 90-minute ride on three different buses. 

In 2014, it would have been 39 minutes, with only one bus transfer, she said.

“I’m hoping to see funding restored,” Bennett said.

LATC was established in 1976 as an agreement between Lewiston and Auburn. It is staffed by the Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments, and contracts with transit operator Western Maine Transportation Services for operating and maintaining the public transportation system.

arice@sunjournal.com

The Lewiston-Auburn Transit Committee is considering adding a $1.50 fare to the Citylink downtown shuttle, which has remained free for years. (Sun Journal file photo)