Express Bus

As part of the big development proposal at Thompson's Point,which will be known as "The Forefront at Thompson's Point," the city may be getting some additional tax revenue for public transit. Per this Press Herald article from today's paper, the city council "decided to set aside 25 percent of the money the city will receive [in taxes from the development once completed], to be used for transit projects." 

City councilor, public transit advocate, and mayoral candidate David Marshall, profiled on this blog in 2009, pointed out while talking with the Press Herald that the money from this development "...would be enough to pay for an express bus from the Portland International Jetport to the Portland Transportation Center – next to the proposed Thompon’s Point development – and then on to the Maine State Pier." Here's a quick Google maps map of the route from these three public transit hubs: 

I'm not sure of this bus route would by managed by the Metro or not, but I think this would be a good route that would kind of combine two existing Metro routes, the #5 (The Maine Mall bus) and the #8 (the peninsula route). 

The #5 currently goes from the Metro Pulse on Elm Street and out to the mall, but also services the Jetport and Portland Transportation Center. Speaking as a weekday rider of the #5, I see a decent amount of people going directly between the jetport and the transportation center. Perhaps this new route would allow the #5 to skip over those two stops and make more frequent and less-congested trips between downtown and the mall area. 

The #8 is the peninsula route bus, which stops at the Casco Bay Ferry Terminal while meandering around the rest of the peninsula. One suggestion I would make, without in-depth research on the issue, is for this newly envisioned express bus bus is to also swing by Monument Square and the Metro Pulse in order to fully connect with the rest of the bus system. Either way, the fact that public transportation continues to be on the radar of our city council is a good thing.