Staff Writer
Officials from Go Maine, a commuter assistance program, are working with employers on the Loring Commerce Centre to develop a car and van pooling system that would save money spent for transportation for workers at the business facility.
Carey M. Kish, Go Maine manager, and Dan Donovan, executive director of Aroostook Regional Transportation System (ARTS), met last week with employees of the larger firms at Loring to discuss the proposal.
Go Maine is sponsored by the Maine Department of Transportation and the Maine Turnpike Authority. It operates a computerized “ride-matching” system where people interested in carpooling can be matched with other potential commuters. It also operates a system of vans and busses for commuters.
Nearly 1,600 people work at the former Air Force base at businesses such as the Defense Finance and Accounting Service, Loring Job Corps Center, Sitel and the Maine Military Authority.
“Loring is a center of employment,” said Carl Flora, president of the Loring Development Authority. “We want to make it easier for prospective employees to work here.”
Since officials with the Loring Development Authority made the proposal last winter, Kish developed and distributed a survey to the employers on Loring.
“We just wanted to get a feel for what people’s interests were,” Kish said last week.
According to the 300 responses received, Kish said that there is high interest in three modes of pooling: car, van and bus. The survey results also showed from where people are traveling.
“We received comments from Fort Kent and Van Buren,” said Donovan. “Maine Military has people from Houlton traveling up to work. We’re just not talking 15 miles off the base. It’s 40 and 50 miles.”
At a time when gas prices are at an all-time high, if only one person carpools with another, both people save 50 percent on their traveling expenses, Kish explained. That savings figure multiplies depending on the number of people in a vehicle, he pointed out.
The overall cost for the individual commuter riding a van or a bus would depend on the mileage, but Kish said that the fees would only be about 20 to 25 percent for what a motorist would spend traveling alone.
“People are seriously interested in saving money,” said Kish.
One of the concerns about the commuting system is that an employee could be stranded at work without transportation in the event of an emergency. However, Kish explained that the program guarantees emergency rides.
The Go Maine program hopes to contract with a local taxi company to provide those rides with no cost to the employee. The service would be free for the occasional emergency twice a month or up to eight times a year, Kish said.
About four to six vans and a 24-seat bus, with space for two wheelchairs, are envisioned for the program. The program is expected to be operational by fall, according to Kish.
However, people can register now online for the ride-matching and carpool program at www.gomaine.org.
Kish and Donovan agree that this project can be the beginning of a regional commuter transportation system. Other large employers such as the Maine Department of Health and Human Services and Cary Medical Center also may be interested in the service.
The program also could be expanded to the larger employers in Presque Isle, according to Kish.
