AUGUSTA, Maine — A legislative oversight panel decided Tuesday it wants answers from the state’s transportation commissioner as it tries to determine whether the state Department of Transportation mismanaged a commuter van pool program that’s set to end Aug. 31.
The Legislature’s Government Oversight Committee decided against launching a full investigation into the transportation department’s management of the GoMaine Commuter Connections program, but members said they had questions about funding sources and whether the program had become unsustainable, as transportation officials have claimed.
“I think the questions are over in the DOT office,” said Rep. Chuck Kruger, D-Thomaston. “I don’t think there’s any great mystery. I think it’s fairly simple.”
Legislators on the panel were considering a request from Rep. Donald Pilon, D-Saco, to have the Legislature’s accountability arm investigate the management and operation of the GoMaine program and determine whether a $233,000 surplus in rider fees that has built up would be returned to the van pool’s 250 participants.
At a meeting last month, committee members asked the Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability to gather preliminary information on the program before deciding whether a full investigation was needed.
The Department of Transportation last winter announced plans to phase out the van pool service by May 1 and encourage riders to contract with private providers to resume their van pools. The department extended the end date to Sept. 1 after GoMaine riders asked for a year extension and the opportunity to work with program managers to find a way to sustain and expand the program.
Transportation officials made the decision after determining that the GoMaine van pool program — which serves about 250 commuters on 27 routes statewide and has a waiting list of about 250 people — couldn’t afford to replace all the vans that needed replacing while expanding the program to meet demand, Department of Transportation legislative and constituent services director Nina Fisher told the Bangor Daily News last month.
Lawmakers on the panel agreed Tuesday it wasn’t in their power to save the commuter program, but decided they still wanted accurate information about the program’s funding.
While riders pay monthly fees for the van pool service, the Department of Transportation covers about 60 percent of administrative costs, mostly from a pool of federal funds aimed at reducing traffic congestion. The Maine Turnpike Authority pays the balance, and the Greater Portland Council of Governments manages most of the program’s day-to-day operations.
“I just want to see the financials. There are a lot of people who depend on this to get to work,” said Sen. Nancy Sullivan, D-Biddeford. “I want to see it reinstated. I don’t know that I’ll get that.”
The only reason it is being phased out because a lot of State Workers use the service to get to work. Anything that benefits this worker base is considered gone. He must think all the middle managers use the service that he has called corrupt. I know this service is used by many that can’t get to work without this program. So now lets throw other workers out of workforce because they can’t commute to work on their own because of disabilities etc.
When the Park and Ride parking lots were established, nationwide, it was to encourage commuters to drive less resulting in less pollution, wear and tear on roads, and, the all-important reason: to reduce our dependency on foreign oil! Maine has at the moment an excellent program that does all that. As the article states, 250 riders depend on the GoMaine van system and there is a waiting list of at least that many riders wanting to get in on this. The riders are not only state government workers, but private companies’ employees also ride the vans. They pay a monthly fee which is administered by the DOT. The article states that there is, at the moment, a surplus of $233,000. And yet, the powers that be say that is not enough to buy new vans. Pray tell, why do all the vans need to be replaced at once? Those vans are subject to better maintenance than many a private car is. And all the miles on the odometer are highway miles. In whose coffers will that $233,000 disappear? That is a question that needs to be answered.
Excellent post. It is not just the $233,000, but all the “administration costs” DOT piled into its analysis that need justification.
The DOT’s financial justification for shutting down this effective and efficient program are very fishy indeed. The numbers they have offered are all over the place. They bamboozled the Transportation Committee into concurrence, but the Govt Oversight Cmt is not so easily rolled, so to speak.
DOT Commissioner Bernhardt simply does not want to run this program anyone, and is shutting it down with Gov. LePage’s full backing.
Keep at it, Govt Oversight Cmt. Politicians and commissioners who shove such ill-considered and poorly justified decsions down the throats of Maine’s employed must be held accountable.
The investigation committee does not want to look any deeper because of finding another corrupt offical in the govs.appointments.So we will look for a lower rung on the ladder to step on