All Buses Head to Bar Harbor . . .
League of Towns Talks Island Explorer and Transportation
The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by Havana.
MOUNT DESERT ISLAND REGION—Several members of the League of Towns, September 23, said that they were concerned about the effectiveness of the newly opened Acadia Gateway Center in encouraging people to leave their cars in Trenton and take the free Island Explorer bus to various Mount Desert Island areas.
The group meets monthly and is a collaboration of staff and officials from Bar Harbor, Cranberry Isles, Ellsworth, Lamoine, Mount Desert, Southwest Harbor, Swans Island, Tremont, Trenton, and Acadia National Park.
The concern about the new Acadia Gateway Center was focused on the fact that the Island Explorer does not offer a direct route from Trenton to the “Quietside” of the island, Tremont and Southwest Harbor, though both towns hold parts of Acadia National Park and tourist attractions such as the Bass Harbor Light, Seawall, Echo Lake, and multiple mountains and hikes.
“I did hear there was some concern with the fact that there’s no ‘Quietside’ route or our side of the island,” Tremont Town Manager Jesse Dunbar told the group during the Tuesday morning meeting. “So if you stop there and park, you still have to take the bus to Bar Harbor to go to Southwest and bring them off. So I did hear some comments that they felt that was underserving one half of the island that you still want your route through Bar Harbor to get over there.”
During the meeting, Trenton Town Administrator Carol Walsh mentioned multiple attractions and beautiful spots in the two towns.
“I met with the chamber, and that was one of the issues that they brought up. And they were told there wouldn’t be a direct route, and so we are going to explore that, and possibly if that’s part of our elected officials meeting, the transportation, just the why that was decided without community input,” Southwest Harbor Town Manager Karen Reddersen said.
Walsh wondered if people would leave their vehicles at the center.
“When you’re going anywhere in the summer around here, as soon as you get to any parking lot, especially around restaurants, you know who the tourists are because everybody’s got their heads stuck in the trunk of their car and they’re pawing around and doing stuff,” Walsh said, “and those people aren’t going to want to leave their belongings and get to the island on a bus. So we’ll see.”
The state opened the Acadia Gateway Center in Trenton in early September just as the national park that it serves hosted a record number of visits.
The park had close to 843,000 visits in August. That number comes from the National Park Service. It breaks July’s record of 797,000 visits.
A visit does not equal a visitor because of how those numbers are tabulated. The third highest visit total was 795,000 in July 2021.
More discussion on this topic and housing will likely be taken up at that elected officials meeting at the Neighborhood House in Northeast Harbor on October 30.
The 11,000-square-foot visitors’ center was mostly funded by federal money, but also received funds from Friends of Acadia and the state.
The state owns the center. MaineDOT along with the Maine Office of Tourism, Acadia National Park, and Downeast Transportation Inc. operate it. The parking is free during the day. Island Explorer buses take passengers from the front of the building to the island.
The Maine Tourism Association operates the visitor information center within the building. It’s one of seven such centers in the state.
“It’s all about getting people off the beaten path,” Tony Cameron, CEO of the Maine Tourism Association, said during an interview with WCSH during a media event earlier in the month. “Rolling out the red carpet and really making sure they feel welcome here.”
According to its website, “The fare-free Island Explorer features bus routes linking hotels, inns, and campgrounds with destinations in Acadia National Park and neighboring village centers. Clean propane-powered vehicles offer Mount Desert Island visitors and residents free transportation to hiking trails, carriage roads, island beaches, and in-town shops and restaurants.”
All photos: Carrie Jones/Bar Harbor Story
LINKS TO LEARN MORE
Acadia Gateway Center Opens as Acadia Has A Record-Breaking August
https://friendsofacadia.org/acadia-experience/acadia-gateway-center-open/
Maine Tourism Association’s page about the Gateway Center.