The Lewiston-Auburn Transit Committee (LATC) is holding two public meetings to receive public comment on a proposed route changes to the citylink transit system. In addition to a proposed new bus route to Pettengill Park, changes are being proposed to the following bus routes: Main Street, New Auburn, Downtown Shuttle, Auburn Malls, and the Mall Shuttle.

Proposed citylink System Improvements

The Lewiston-Auburn Transit Committee (LATC) is proposing to increase citylink service back to 2016 service levels prior to funding cuts that took effect October 1, 2017. LATC is proposing to restore service to the New Auburn and Mall Shuttle routes, make route adjustments to the Main Street and Downtown Shuttle route, and add a new route to Pettengill Park in Auburn. These changes are for weekday service only.

Approved changes will take effect January 2, 2020.

Proposed Route Improvements for Weekday Service:

Main Street –

• Reduce a 60-minute run to a 30-minute run.

ü  Remain at 60-minute headway (bus leaves the station every hour to run the Main Street route).

ü  13 30-minute/day trips; 6.5 hours of daily service.

• Eliminate the section of route that does Canal Street, Cedar Street and Lincoln Street. This section will now be served by the proposed New Auburn route and Downtown Shuttle.

ü  The schedule currently shows Main Street with a 14 minute layover in the parking lot at Marden’s and arriving back at the Oak Street Station with 10 minutes to spare. As a result of the last study, the route was extended to Canal Street/Cedar/Lincoln Street to add time to the route to fit it to a 60-minute run, as well as, providing some coverage for the section of route that was eliminated when the New Auburn route was reduced.

• Alternate 30-minute runs with proposed Pettengill Park route beginning at 7:45 AM.
• Stop on College Street for Geiger School.

ü  The bus currently goes into Geiger School. The school has requested that citylink not enter the school on its 8:15 AM and 2:15 PM run to avoid conflict with school bus traffic. (Exceptions can be made if a child is on the bus.)

• Eliminate Mollison Way outbound.

ü  Outbound the bus currently serves Mollison Way doing an out and back (Mollison Way to Fair Street to College to Fair to Mollison) before proceeding out Main Street to College and back to Main Street via Mollison Way.

Sabattus Street – No change.

Lisbon Street – No change.

New Auburn – (reinstate the 2016 route)

• New – 60-minute route at 60-minute headways.

ü  This route will be a 60-minute run starting at the Downtown Auburn Transportation Center, traveling through New Auburn and Little Canada to the Lewiston Bus Station, and then returning to the Downtown Auburn Transportation Center via Little Canada and New Auburn. The proposed weekday route will be the same as the Saturday route.

ü  New Auburn is currently a 30-minute run that operates every hour. There are 10 30-minute trips per day for a total of 5 hours.

• 12.5 60-minute/day trips; 12.5 hours of daily service.

ü  The improvement to New Auburn provides an additional 7.5 hours of service per day and moves 0.5 hours currently at the end of the day to the beginning.

• Depart Auburn at 5:45 AM and end at 6:15 PM in Lewiston.

Downtown Shuttle/Minot Avenue –

• The Downtown Shuttle and Minot Avenue routes will continue to use the same bus, alternating runs. Both runs will start one hour earlier.
• Minot Avenue will begin running at 6:15 AM;
• 12 trips/day; 6 hours of daily service.

ü  Minot Avenue route currently is a 30-minute route that runs hourly beginning at 7:15 AM for 11 trips per day for 5.5 hours of daily service.

• Downtown Shuttle will begin running at 6:45 AM;
• 11 trips/day; 5.5 hours of daily service.

ü  Downtown Shuttle is currently a 30-minute route that runs every hour beginning at 7:45 AM for 10 trips per day, a total of 5 hours per day.

College Street/Mall Shuttle – No change.

Auburn Malls/(Mall Shuttle) -

• The Auburn Malls bus will start operating two hours earlier starting at 6:15 AM.
• The Auburn Malls route will alternate with the Mall Shuttle beginning at 7:00 AM.

ü  The first run at 6:15 AM will depart the Downtown Auburn Transportation Center and head to Walmart where it will return to the Transportation Center. The College Street/Mall Shuttle bus will be at Walmart for any Auburn Malls passengers that need to transfer to the Mall Shuttle.

• 30-minute run at 60-minute headway
• 12 trips/day; 6 hours of daily service

Auburn Malls is currently operating a 30-minute run at 60-minute headways but alternating routes with New Auburn. Auburn Malls service is currently 10 trips/day, a total of 5 hours of daily service.

Mall Shuttle

• Operate a 30-minute route at 30-minute headways.

ü  The Mall Shuttle route will share a bus with College Street and the Auburn Malls, alternating every 30 minutes.

• 23 trips/day; 11.5 hours of daily service

The Mall Shuttle currently runs every 60-minutes for a total of 12 trips/day; 6 hours of daily service.

Pettengill Park

• New – 30-minute run at 60-minute headways.
• Alternate 30-minute runs with the Main Street bus beginning at 7:45 AM

ü  The bus would depart the Oak Street bus station, turn left onto Bates Street, turn left onto Main Street, proceed into Auburn, turn right into Great Falls Plaza, proceed to the DATC. Depart the DATC via Hampshire Street, merge onto Gamage Avenue, turn right onto Wilson Street, turn left onto Field Avenue, turn right onto the Pettengill Park road, turn around in Hasty Memorial Gym parking lot to exit Pettengill Park onto Field Avenue, turn left, turn right onto Wilson Street, turn left onto Gamage Avenue, turn left onto Hampshire Street, proceed into Great Falls to DATC. Depart DATC via Great Falls Plaza road turning left onto Court Street/Longley Memorial Bridge, turn right onto Park Street, turn left onto Oak Street, proceed to the Oak Street bus station.

• 11 30-minute trips per day; 5.5 hours of service per day.

There are no proposed schedule changes to the Sabattus Street, Lisbon Street and College Street bus routes. When funds were cut in FY 2017, none of these routes were impacted by any reductions in service. At this time, there are no changes to the hours of service.

All Auburn bus routes, New Auburn, Minot Avenue and Auburn Malls, connect with the Downtown Shuttle at 6:45 AM at the Downtown Auburn Transportation Center to transfer to the Oak Street bus station.

Route Maps will be available September 4, 2019.