Public transportation programs in Maine are only meeting 11% of the need, according to a report from the Public Transit Advisory Council.
Chad Heid, chair of the council and chief transportation officer of Greater Portland Metro, told members of the Legislature's transportation committee today that nearly 90,000 Maine adults don't have a driver's license. And 15,000 employed workers don't have access to a reliable vehicle.
"Transportation, ultimately, is an economic factor," Heid said. "People who don't have access to transportation reliably, whether a vehicle or public transportation mode, will not be able to participate in our economy to the full availability that we would encourage folks."
The council recommends that the state increase funding for public transit — particularly for local providers, who get only about 2% of their budget from Augusta.
And with limited staffing and funds, local programs aren't able to take people where they need to go.
"There are failures in our network," Heid said. "There are people who cannot get to doctor's appointments, people who cannot get to the community college, people who cannot get to the BMV to take their road test — as a degree of irony."
With most public transit programs seeing improvement in ridership since the pandemic, Heid said there are opportunities to expand them, rather than just maintain them.
