A METRO bus in August 2010
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Founded | 1966 |
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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. |
Fleet | 31 |
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 is Maine's largest public transportation agency. The transit system's annual ridership was 1,810,000 in 2016.
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.
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 provide each student with a free unlimited METRO pass. 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. There is free Wi-Fi on board, and is mostly used by students.
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