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The Orono Town Council and a representative from the Bangor region’s public transportation authority agreed to permanently move the route of the BAT Community Connector shuttle bus at a Monday evening committee meeting.
Councilmembers decided to officially change the route of the shuttle to run along Hillside Road in the North Main Avenue neighborhood, a move designed to save time and reduce wear on the buses while still increasing the service’s coverage area.
The change is the end result of a six-week-long trial period that extended service in the area to Penobscot Street, an area referred to by the council as the “lower neighborhood.”
Town Manager Cathy Conlow said the trial period was designed to determine if the altered route would raise or lower rider numbers by going deeper into the neighborhood.
BAT superintendent Joe McNeil said while the extension has increased ridership along most of the route, drivers have reported that only a single person is picked up along Penobscot Street in a typical day, which he felt did not justify service to the area. He added that a driver had spoken with this individual who said it would not be problematic to walk the one block to Hillside Road to catch the bus.
“We’re just looking to serve as many people as is practically possible,” McNeil said.
Additionally, McNeil said that by cutting service at Hillside Road, the bus would not be forced to stop at and cross over a set of railroad tracks that run across North Main Avenue and Crosby Street.
He said this would shave approximately two miles off of the distance traveled by the bus each day, a reduction that would greatly extend the service life of the vehicle.
Conlow and McNeil received several suggestions and complaints from riders and neighborhood residents alike. Most of the complaints were of the not-in-my-backyard variety, with residents of the neighborhood praising the extended route but voicing displeasure with the noise and exhaust odor as the bus travels down their street.
Conlow noted that the town’s public works depot is located along Penobscot Street and that vehicles associated with this facility, coupled with the new bus traffic, placed an additional burden on neighborhood residents.
The most problematic complaint for the council revolved around riders congregating in the driveway of a house situated on the corner of Pond Street and North Main Avenue. Since there is a four-way stop at the intersection, riders regularly queue up in the house’s driveway, creating what Conlow called a “natural bus stop.”
The owner of the property even reported a theft after the route was changed, however Conlow was quick to mention this may not be a result of the bus service.
McNeil described similar problems the BAT system has encountered in downtown Bangor, like one example in which riders were waiting on the front porch of a house owned by the city police chief’s mother. He said that in these situations the driver has explained the issue to riders, who have then complied without much fuss.
The council agreed this would be an appropriate solution and that, if it proved unsuccessful, a designated bus stop could be located before the intersection to divert riders away from the driveway.
