Focus
MaineDOT recognizes that passenger rail is an important part of the statewide transportation network and affects how people decide to travel as well as where to work and live. Based on information from the various Lewiston and Auburn passenger rail studies, including the 2018 Transit Propensity Analysis, the 2019 Lewiston-Auburn Passenger Rail Service Plan, and the 2023 Lewiston-Auburn Passenger Rail Study: Economic Evaluation Study, MaineDOT plans to pursue the achievable alternative of improved bus service serving intercity and commuter needs. This alternative involves much lower capital and operational costs in the near and long-term, can be started quickly as a pilot, is more flexible in terms of defining and revising workforce and equity needs, is climate friendly, and can serve to assess ridership demand for future consideration of passenger rail. There will be continued collaboration to improve connectivity to intercity rail.