Maine’s transportation system is broken.

If you do not have a car, there is virtually no access to your job, schooling or basic necessities. If you do have a car, its high costs strain your household budget.

The comparison I draw is not some academic hypothetical — they affect your friends, neighbors and family. A grandmother who can no longer drive, a child who does not have a license, a friend who cannot afford a car. Even if you are fortunate enough to not be in this situation, consider your reaction when you shell out hundreds of dollars for new tires, or the dread of your annual inspection.

These stories are not rare. Transportation in Maine is riddled with numerous accessibility issues. A recent report, of which I am a co-author, put these challenges into actual numbers, which exemplifies the striking gap in access. First, approximately 90,000 Maine adults lack a driver’s license. Many are in their 20s, a critical age for accessing employment and educational opportunities. Second, 52,000 Mainers live in households where the number of workers exceeds the number of vehicles. With few alternatives available, this is as good as unreliable.

However, one of the most shocking figures is that 3 in 5 Maine adults experience transportation insecurity. This includes people who find their transportation unreliable, inaccessible and unaffordable.

The findings in the Public Transit Advisory Council report confirm we have a broken transportation system. This is a direct result of failed policy perpetuated by the governor’s administration. Maine Department of Transportation Commissioner Bruce Van Note has made decisions that weaken transportation alternatives and push forward expensive and disastrous projects.

The recent swell in public momentum for meaningful transportation reform serves as a pivotal moment for decision-makers — and they should act upon it.

There are several key areas that would need serious change: fiscal responsibility, agency transparency and robust investment in transportation alternatives. First and foremost, the highway budget faces significant shortfalls, most recently $280 million, which is in large part due to the diminishing role of fuel taxes. The Tax Foundation projects real fuel tax revenues to decline by more than half over the next 20 years.

Overall, 42.6% of Highway Fund revenue comes from fuel taxes, making the future of the fund a pressing concern. The PTAC report highlights several options, such as phasing out fuel taxes in favor of a mileage-based fee, restructuring the income tax and several smaller transit-dedicated revenue sources.

Second, in its stumbling attempts to advance a decades-old proposal for a new toll highway extension to Gorham, the Maine Turnpike Authority has made itself a poster child for nontransparency. Freedom of Information Act requests from journalists, activists and citizens at risk of losing their homes to make way for the highway have documented false claims.

These include:

• Publicly understating the estimated cost of the highway at its public rollout last year by over $100 million.
• Claiming that traffic continues to grow when DOT’s own public data shows traffic counts flat or even falling.
• Withholding the results of a public opinion poll showing more local opposition than support for the highway.
• Failing to disclose the likely historic preservation eligibility of a farm in the route of the highway.

All of these tactics only serve to overstate the necessity and value of a $331 million new highway, while the state DOT claims it doesn’t have the money it needs to maintain the roads we already have.

Finally, MaineDOT has starved transportation alternatives of crucial funding, leaving service providers to fight over a meager pot. For example, Commissioner Van Note has flatlined transit
funding for years, leading to a major gap between the level of service needed and provided.

According to a John T. Gorman Foundation report, 28 million transit trips are needed in Maine, yet only 3 million trips are provided. The state is an underutilized source of funding, currently contributing a mere 2% of total transit funding.

At this crossroads, Maine has a chance to reshape its transportation future. It is time for the public to take action on their angst and tell leaders, like Commissioner Van Note, that it’s time to remake transit in our state.

Copy the Story Link