#morerapidtransit — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #morerapidtransit, aggregated by home.social.
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So, #GPCOG (Greater Portland Council of Governments) did a study, and the existing rail lines would be more expensive. What they are proposing is a dedicated bus lane on existing surface roads... Interesting...
Gorham-Westbrook-Portland Rapid Transit Study
"The study explored both rail and bus-based modes, including the potential to use existing rail corridors for rapid transit service. Once Tier 1 Evaluation corridors were identified, the costs and benefits of using the corridor for rail versus bus-based service were considered.
Existing rail corridors were not recommended for rapid transit service, mainly due to current use by freight and/or Downeaster passenger rail services, and strict FRA regulations related to shared rights-of-way.
Existing rail corridors also provide limited access to key destinations, could create environmental impacts to sensitive sites, and are susceptible to sea-level rise. Ultimately, we found that using an existing rail corridor would require major rail construction and reconstruction to support rapid transit service, which would be considerably more costly and complicated than a bus-based service, while providing less access and mobility to the public.
A more detailed description of the mode-choice analysis can be found in Chapter 4 of the final report.
More detailed key reasons for recommending a rapid bus-based LPA were determined in the Tier 2 evaluation, and include:
Capital Costs: A rail alternative is likely to cost four to twelve times more to construct than a BRT alternative.
Operating Costs: It is generally more than twice as costly to operate rail transit on a per-hour basis than it is to operate bus transit.
Ridership and Capacity: In the Greater Portland context, a street-running rail service is unlikely to produce enough added ridership to justify the higher cost of building and operating rail service instead of BRT.
Overall: BRT is assumed to provide similar benefits as street-running rail service at substantially lower per- rider cost"
https://gpcog.org/557/Gorham-Westbrook-Portland-Rapid-Transit-
#SolarPunkSunday #MorePublicTransportation
#BikeRacks #NoGorhamConnector
#MoreRapidTransit #GorhamME #WestbrookME #PortlandME -
This (and maybe #LightRail along existing rail lines)! Bonus - #GreaterPortlandMetro buses are equipped with bike racks!
Greater Portland Metro looking for feedback on Maine's first bus #RapidTransit line
The plan is to have buses operate every 10 minutes in order to connect Gorham, Westbrook and Portland
Jacob Murphy, April 29, 2026
PORTLAND, Maine — "Greater Portland Metro is in the design phase for a proposed bus rapid transit route that would connect Gorham, Westbrook and Portland. It would be the first of its kind for Maine, and project staff says the goal would be to operate buses every 10 minutes.
"Where the bus stations, bus lanes, and other infrastructure is placed along the route hasn't been decided. Greater Portland Metro is asking for community members to fill out a survey on their website to help them finalize a plan.
" 'This design stage is very important because we want the public's feedback. We're making a lot of the big design decisions at this point,' said Mike Tremblay, director of transit projects at Greater Portland Metro.
"Tremblay says he hopes they can have bus rapid transit operational in 2031 or 2032."
[...]
"Bus rapid transit takes buses and tries to replicate the service offered by light rail. 'Like, you might see on the Green Line in Boston or elsewhere in the country, bus rapid transit tries to achieve a lot of the same goals without that high level of investment,' Tremblay said."
#SolarPunkSunday #MorePublicTransportation #BikeRacks #NoGorhamConnector #MoreRapidTransit #GorhamConnector #InducedSprawl #MainePol #GorhamME #WestbrookME #PortlandME
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This (and maybe #LightRail along existing rail lines)! Bonus - #GreaterPortlandMetro buses are equipped with bike racks!
Greater Portland Metro looking for feedback on Maine's first bus #RapidTransit line
The plan is to have buses operate every 10 minutes in order to connect Gorham, Westbrook and Portland
Jacob Murphy, April 29, 2026
PORTLAND, Maine — "Greater Portland Metro is in the design phase for a proposed bus rapid transit route that would connect Gorham, Westbrook and Portland. It would be the first of its kind for Maine, and project staff says the goal would be to operate buses every 10 minutes.
"Where the bus stations, bus lanes, and other infrastructure is placed along the route hasn't been decided. Greater Portland Metro is asking for community members to fill out a survey on their website to help them finalize a plan.
" 'This design stage is very important because we want the public's feedback. We're making a lot of the big design decisions at this point,' said Mike Tremblay, director of transit projects at Greater Portland Metro.
"Tremblay says he hopes they can have bus rapid transit operational in 2031 or 2032."
[...]
"Bus rapid transit takes buses and tries to replicate the service offered by light rail. 'Like, you might see on the Green Line in Boston or elsewhere in the country, bus rapid transit tries to achieve a lot of the same goals without that high level of investment,' Tremblay said."
#SolarPunkSunday #MorePublicTransportation #BikeRacks #NoGorhamConnector #MoreRapidTransit #GorhamConnector #InducedSprawl #MainePol #GorhamME #WestbrookME #PortlandME
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This (and maybe #LightRail along existing rail lines)! Bonus - #GreaterPortlandMetro buses are equipped with bike racks!
Greater Portland Metro looking for feedback on Maine's first bus #RapidTransit line
The plan is to have buses operate every 10 minutes in order to connect Gorham, Westbrook and Portland
Jacob Murphy, April 29, 2026
PORTLAND, Maine — "Greater Portland Metro is in the design phase for a proposed bus rapid transit route that would connect Gorham, Westbrook and Portland. It would be the first of its kind for Maine, and project staff says the goal would be to operate buses every 10 minutes.
"Where the bus stations, bus lanes, and other infrastructure is placed along the route hasn't been decided. Greater Portland Metro is asking for community members to fill out a survey on their website to help them finalize a plan.
" 'This design stage is very important because we want the public's feedback. We're making a lot of the big design decisions at this point,' said Mike Tremblay, director of transit projects at Greater Portland Metro.
"Tremblay says he hopes they can have bus rapid transit operational in 2031 or 2032."
[...]
"Bus rapid transit takes buses and tries to replicate the service offered by light rail. 'Like, you might see on the Green Line in Boston or elsewhere in the country, bus rapid transit tries to achieve a lot of the same goals without that high level of investment,' Tremblay said."
#SolarPunkSunday #MorePublicTransportation #BikeRacks #NoGorhamConnector #MoreRapidTransit #GorhamConnector #InducedSprawl #MainePol #GorhamME #WestbrookME #PortlandME
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This (and maybe #LightRail along existing rail lines)! Bonus - #GreaterPortlandMetro buses are equipped with bike racks!
Greater Portland Metro looking for feedback on Maine's first bus #RapidTransit line
The plan is to have buses operate every 10 minutes in order to connect Gorham, Westbrook and Portland
Jacob Murphy, April 29, 2026
PORTLAND, Maine — "Greater Portland Metro is in the design phase for a proposed bus rapid transit route that would connect Gorham, Westbrook and Portland. It would be the first of its kind for Maine, and project staff says the goal would be to operate buses every 10 minutes.
"Where the bus stations, bus lanes, and other infrastructure is placed along the route hasn't been decided. Greater Portland Metro is asking for community members to fill out a survey on their website to help them finalize a plan.
" 'This design stage is very important because we want the public's feedback. We're making a lot of the big design decisions at this point,' said Mike Tremblay, director of transit projects at Greater Portland Metro.
"Tremblay says he hopes they can have bus rapid transit operational in 2031 or 2032."
[...]
"Bus rapid transit takes buses and tries to replicate the service offered by light rail. 'Like, you might see on the Green Line in Boston or elsewhere in the country, bus rapid transit tries to achieve a lot of the same goals without that high level of investment,' Tremblay said."
#SolarPunkSunday #MorePublicTransportation #BikeRacks #NoGorhamConnector #MoreRapidTransit #GorhamConnector #InducedSprawl #MainePol #GorhamME #WestbrookME #PortlandME
-
This (and maybe #LightRail along existing rail lines)! Bonus - #GreaterPortlandMetro buses are equipped with bike racks!
Greater Portland Metro looking for feedback on Maine's first bus #RapidTransit line
The plan is to have buses operate every 10 minutes in order to connect Gorham, Westbrook and Portland
Jacob Murphy, April 29, 2026
PORTLAND, Maine — "Greater Portland Metro is in the design phase for a proposed bus rapid transit route that would connect Gorham, Westbrook and Portland. It would be the first of its kind for Maine, and project staff says the goal would be to operate buses every 10 minutes.
"Where the bus stations, bus lanes, and other infrastructure is placed along the route hasn't been decided. Greater Portland Metro is asking for community members to fill out a survey on their website to help them finalize a plan.
" 'This design stage is very important because we want the public's feedback. We're making a lot of the big design decisions at this point,' said Mike Tremblay, director of transit projects at Greater Portland Metro.
"Tremblay says he hopes they can have bus rapid transit operational in 2031 or 2032."
[...]
"Bus rapid transit takes buses and tries to replicate the service offered by light rail. 'Like, you might see on the Green Line in Boston or elsewhere in the country, bus rapid transit tries to achieve a lot of the same goals without that high level of investment,' Tremblay said."
#SolarPunkSunday #MorePublicTransportation #BikeRacks #NoGorhamConnector #MoreRapidTransit #GorhamConnector #InducedSprawl #MainePol #GorhamME #WestbrookME #PortlandME