PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Throughout the past two weeks, the new Presque Isle Loop bus has opened its doors to hundreds of people, many of whom now have safe, reliable transportation to access education, housing and other community resources.
On the morning of Wednesday, Oct. 28, LeRae Kinney, co-chair of the Going Places Network, rode the PI Loop bus along with many passengers who used the bus to travel to work, school and local businesses.
“We’ve had amazing responses from the community,” Kinney said. “Everyone we’ve talked to has said they love riding the bus and they like the variety of stops.”
The PI Loop began services on Oct. 15 and is offering free rides until Oct. 31. Starting on Nov. 1, single fares — which allow passengers to board and then ride to any destination — are $1.75 while a round trip costs $3.50. People can also purchase a seven-day Go Pass for $18 or a 31-day Go Pass for $72. The Go Passes provide passengers with unlimited access to rides until an expiration date.
Discounted prices are available for children under 18 years, adults 60 years and older, active military veterans and spouses with a military ID and individuals with mobility disabilities. Folks can pay with cash, debit or credit cards or EBT cards when entering the bus and must use exact change if paying with cash.
Linda Ayers of Presque Isle rides the new PI Loop bus on Wednesday, Oct. 28. Ayers, who does not own a car, said that the bus has provided her with a more accessible option for traveling around the city.
(Courtesy of LeRae Kinney)
The loop is a fixed bus route that currently stops at 16 locations throughout the city, including both colleges, the Sargent Family Community Center, Presque Isle Housing Authority, Northern Light A.R. Gould Hospital and Walmart.
On Nov. 1, the bus stop located on Blake Street will be replaced with a stop on Griffin Street between Zippel Elementary School and Presque Isle High School, to provide easier access to both schools.
The wheelchair-accessible bus will also begin stopping at the Presque Isle Rehab and Nursing Center, next door to the A.R. Gould campus, instead of near the hospital’s emergency room entrance due to reconstruction of a parking lot.
“The change will not impact the timing of that particular stop, but we thought that the Nursing Center would provide us with a better location,” Kinney said, about the reasons behind the change in the A.R. Gould stop.
Kinney noted that since the first day of service the PI Loop bus has seen more than 600 passengers, with the average number per day varying depending on time of day and week. Consistently popular stops have included the Housing Authority, Northern Maine Community College, the University of Maine at Presque Isle, Walmart, the Helen Noreen apartments, the Industrial Park and the County Federal Credit Union parking lot.
The Going Places Network consists of community leaders who have worked to bring an accessible transportation service to Presque Isle since last year after finding that transportation was ranked as the biggest barrier for people in Aroostook County. The group will receive funds from the Presque Isle Rotary Club auction that will go toward the purchase of shelters for all bus stop locations.
Former Presque Isle resident Mary Smith has pledged to match any funds raised up to $50,000, after having initially donated $270,000 to the bus loop project. The Going Places Network has set $50,000 as its goal for the rotary auction and hopes to purchase shelters that are four sided and have solar lighting. Kinney expects that the shelters might be installed in early spring 2020.
“We wanted time to raise funds to purchase the best possible shelters and to determine where the permanent stop locations for the bus will be,” Kinney said. “The bus stop signs are not in the ground, so we can move them to wherever the shelters will be.”
Kinney said the the Going Places Network is actively discussing how to best adjust the route to meet the needs of passengers and the community. In the winter months they will consider the placement of bus stops in terms of what areas of parking lots and sidewalks are regularly shoveled and maintained.
On Halloween evening, which falls on Thursday, Oct. 31, the loop will run a limited route that will start at UMPI and go to South Main Street but go straight to the North Street Plaza instead of stopping on Blake Street. To avoid the heavy traffic from trick or treaters, the bus will instead make stops at Helen Noreen, the Aroostook Centre Mall, Walmart, NMCC, Parsons Street and the Sargent Family Community Center before heading back to UMPI.
Linda Ayers of Presque Isle rode the bus on Oct. 28 with a friend who was helping her move into an apartment at the Presque Isle Housing Authority. She noted that being able to ride the bus has saved her many long trips walking to and from her apartment.
“I don’t have a car and I have a bad back, so walking is hard for me,” Ayers said. “I think I’ll use the bus a lot, especially when I have to shop at Walmart.”
The bus has quickly become a popular transportation option for local college students, including Israel Mercado, who is majoring in liberal studies at NMCC. Mercado rode the bus for the first time on Oct. 28.
“It’s great that students who don’t have a car will be able to ride the bus, especially this winter,” Mercado said.
The Going Places Network has had preliminary discussions about possibly beginning a second bus loop. A second loop would aim to provide access to locations where the current PI Loop does not stop, such as The Forum and Northern Maine Fairgrounds and sections of Academy Street.
Even though the group is conducting a feasibility study to track the average number of riders and positive impacts of the route, it will be several years before they have enough data to support ideas for long-term changes with the loop.
“The Maine DOT [Department of Transportation] uses Rockland’s bus stop as the model for the state and they’ve told us that our numbers for passengers in the first two weeks have already surpassed what Rockland had in their first six weeks,” Kinney said.
“But they like to remind us that, though those numbers are great, it won’t be until three years when we have enough data to tell us about the benefits of the service,” Kinney said.
In the meantime folks can keep up with the latest bus schedules at the PI Loop’s official website, https://www.thepiloop.org/.
