AUBURN – Western Maine Transportation Services recently received a grant to continue public transit services in Franklin County after receiving notice that County Commissioners would not be releasing their previously allotted $10,000 in funding. The organization was preparing to eliminate their Franklin County service when the grant from the Harold Dudley Charitbale Fund of the Maine Community Foundation was received. The grant is in the amount of $10,000.
“This emergency grant will be used as the required local match to allow WMTS to draw-down much-needed federal funding which provides the majority of the revenue to operate the service,” WMTS General Manager Sandy Buchanan said.
WMTS received a letter from the commissioners on Jan. 7 indicating that they would no longer be funded. The organization has been supported at the county level for more than two decades according to a press release from Community Relations Director Craig Zurhorst. WMTS was anticipating the notice, he said, and will be working toward forming new partnerships with municipalities, businesses, institutions and non-profits to fill the gap.
“Maine’s underfunding of public transit puts it near the bottom of the list nationally. The best comparison is Vermont which spends $12.22 per capita on public transit, while Maine spends only $0.86 per capita. This places a disproportionate amount of financial pressure on Maine’s municipal and county government budgets to support public transportation services,” Zurhorst said.
I’m glad that someone stepped up to fund this service. American transportation policy has led to the dominance of the private automobile at the the expense of public transportation options such as scheduled bus service, trains, etc. If you live in rural Maine and don’t have access to an automobile (your own or a helpful friend), you’re screwed when it comes to managing healthcare, buying groceries, and other basic necessities.
Is WMTS a perfect (and perfectly run) service? I don’t know but I’m guessing that it isn’t. But the alternative to it isn’t eliminating it or relying on it’s critics to step up with a positive solution.
See what happens if you ask. We shouldn’t rely on county taxpayers all the time . More non profits can do the same.
Good job of thinking outside the box and lessen the burden of taxpayers .
Well said, MaineBoy. The bus service will continue, and for that I am grateful and relieved.
I am at the same time concerned that this positive news will gloss over the fact that the Commissioners withheld funds that were approved and budgeted through the correct process. That fact remains troubling and still needs to be addressed.
I think the commissioners have explained their decision quite well and with plenty of advanced warning.This issue should now be closed and any surplus can now be used to benefit the larger populace.
@Taxed Enough, The commissioners (Charlie Webster) have simply stated the they have decided to remove the expenditures to these non-profit groups from their budget because of the reimbursement that the Town of Jay had to pay to Verso. The budget committee has continued to include these expenditures into the budget. Because the commissioners did not have an unanimous vote they could not eliminate the spending from their budget. I think that they should release the funds as approved by the budget committee, rather than hide behind their desire to defund these organizations.
I have allways been a firm supporter of some kind of public transportation even though I never use it. This issue will not just disappear in the future. However dont be lulled into a false sense of security by the words non-profit. All this does is open other avenues for people to take advantage of what is suppose to be a good thing. This happens every day especially when people get slack at holding others accountable.
I’m very happy that this excellent and much-needed service, which I use regularly, will continue to be available.
Thank you all!
TJ, I’m not saying whether the County should or shouldn’t fund this program, but I’d like to know why funding had to cease before it became an issue.
What steps were taken to prevent this from the time the decision was made to stop funding to the time funding stopped? Because all I can think of is a child being told all the way to the store that they wouldn’t get a cookie, then having a tantrum when they didn’t get a cookie.
According to Mr. Webster, the decision was made and the programs were contacted. That was the time to act. That was the time to contact those who use this service. That was the time to rile up the community. That was the time to be proactive.