BANGOR, Maine — Some depend on the Community Connector’s Saturday service in Hampden to get to work, run errands, shop and do a number of other things that require getting around.
Others, however, say the weekend public bus service is too costly for the number of people using it and that Hampden taxpayers are footing the bill for a route located mostly in Bangor and used, they believe, largely by nonresidents.
Those were some of the comments offered by those who turned out for a sparsely attended public hearing Wednesday at City Hall in Bangor.
Conducted by the Community Connector, Wednesday’s session was the second of two public hearings required as part of Hampden’s plan to end Saturday bus runs in town.
The Hampden route runs between downtown Hampden and the bus transfer hub at Pickering Square in Bangor.
Most of the speakers were regular bus riders, among them Joyce Rankin and her daughter Angela Rankin, who live on Main Road North, and Bangor resident Andrew Roscoe, who lives on Lincoln Street.
All three said they use the bus for getting things done on Saturdays and know others who also need the service.
Hampden resident Jeremy Jones, however, said he spent nearly 12 hours riding the Hampden Saturday bus on June 6 and found that only about a quarter of the roughly 100 people who boarded did so in Hampden.
“It was apparent that the use and costs are terribly skewed, that they benefit Bangor at Hampden’s expense,” he said, adding, “I don’t understand how the Hampden [town] leaders could sign up for such a bad deal.
“I and others cannot support this arrangement as it now stands, so cancel the run. Force the issue — that’s right, force the issue to be negotiated more equitably,” he said.
Hampden resident Clyde McDonald disagreed with Jones’ position. He said the estimated $16,000 cost for running the Saturday bus was not too high and that cutting the service to save a little money would impose hardships on those who could least afford them.
“I’ve never seen a time when so many people are blind worshippers of the very wealthy and one of the things [I am seeing] is increasing animosity for the poor and the disadvantaged,” he said.
“Hampden people are making no sacrifices. It’s a $6 million budget,” he said. “To continue our bus service, it costs us very, very little.”
The last step in the decision-making process comes on Monday, when Hampden councilors take a vote.
If the decision is made to eliminate Saturday service, the last Saturday runs in Hampden would take place Aug. 1, Bus Superintendent Laurie Linscott said Wednesday.
Riders will be apprised of any changes through public notices posted at the bus hub, in the buses themselves and on the Bangor Area Comprehensive Transportation System’s website at www.bactsmpo.org, she said.