Greater Portland Metro Bus
|
A METRO bus in August 2010 | |
| Founded | 1966 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | 114 Valley Street, Portland, ME 04012 |
| Locale | Portland, ME Metro Area |
| Service area | Portland, Westbrook, Falmouth, South Portland, Freeport and Yarmouth. |
| Service type | Public Transit |
| Routes | 8 |
| Hubs | METRO Pulse at Elm St. and Congress St. on the Portland Peninsula. |
| Chief executive | Greg Jordan (as of September 2013) |
| Website | MetroBus |
The Greater Portland Transit District (METRO) is a regional public transportation system in Southern Maine, serving the communities of Falmouth, Freeport, Portland, South Portland, Westbrook and Yarmouth. METRO was formed in 1966. Metro's Board of Directors includes representatives from the communities of Falmouth, Portland and Westbrook.
METRO is Maine's largest public transportation agency. The transit system's annual ridership was 1,810,000 in 2016.
In 2015, Portland Public Schools ended yellow school bus transportation for all of Portland's high school students and entered into an agreement with METRO to provided an unlimited access transit pass program. The program has generated 250,000 boardings for the agency while allowing Portland Public Schools greater flexibility with school bell times and repurposing staff and equipment resources to other priorities.
The METRO BREEZ Express Bus Service started in June 2016. It serves Portland, Falmouth, Yarmouth, Freeport and, from August 2017, Brunswick.
As of 2016, METRO operated a fleet of 18 Compressed Natural Gas buses and 14 diesel buses. It operates and maintains the only CNG fuel station in the state of Maine.
Route list
All routes connect on Congress Street in downtown Portland and serve the METRO Pulse, near Monument Square.
Route 1 (Congress Street) - Portland Peninsula, Munjoy Hill, Portland Transportation Center
Route 2 (Forest Avenue) - Portland Peninsula, University of Southern Maine, Woodford's Corner, Riverton
Route 4 (Brighton Avenue/Main Street) - Portland Peninsula, University of Southern Maine, Westbrook, IDEXX
Route 5 (Outer Congress) - Portland Peninsula, Portland Transportation Center, Portland Jeport, Maine Mall
Route 7 (Falmouth) - Portland Peninsula, Falmouth
Route 8 (Portland Circulator) - Portland Peninsula, West End, Arts District, Commercial Street, Casco Bay Lines
Route 9 (Washington Street/Stevens Avenue) - Portland Peninsula, Allen's Corner, West Falmouth, University of New England, Casco Bay High School, Deering High School, Portland High School.
METRO BREEZ - Express bus service between Portland, Falmouth, Yarmouth and Freeport.
Active fleet
| Year Order | Manufacture Model | Series (Qty.) |
Powertrain | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Gillig 40' Phantom | 9604-9605, 9609,9616-9617, 9659,9665 (7) |
Detroit Diesel 50/ Allison B400R |
|
| 1996 | Gillig 40' Phantom | 9624, 9645 (2) |
Detroit Diesel 50/ Allison B400R |
|
| 2004 | Gillig 35' Phantom | 0405,0407,0412,0416 (4) |
Cummins ISM Voith D864.3E |
were purchased to add to the contingency fleet. |
| 2005 | Orion VII 35' CNG | 0530-0542 (13) |
John Deere 6081H/ Vioth D864.3E |
|
| 2011 | Gillig 35' Low Floor | 1101-1107 (7) |
Cummins ISL9/ Allison B400R |
|
| 2014 | Gillig 35' Low Floor CNG | 1401-1405 (5) |
Cummins Westport ISL-G/ Allison B400R |
|
| 2018 | New Flyer XN CNG | TBA | TBA |
|
| 2018 | New Flyer XD Diesel | TBA | TBA |
|