By a 5-4 vote, the Bangor City Council on January 27 affirmed plans to build a hub for the Community Connector bus system in Pickering Square downtown. The vote was the culmination of an eight-year discussion that was at times rancorous. But barring a petition drive by entrenched opponents, the city will finally move forward with this sensible course of action.

Councilors Clare Davitt, Sarah Nichols, Angela Okafor, Gretchen Schaefer, and Laura Supica all spoke eloquently in favor of the Pickering Square hub. Dissenters Rick Fournier and Susan Hawes declined to state reasons for their opposition; each uttered just one word during the two-hour meeting: “No,” when the vote was called. Dan Tremble said that the city had not adequately explored alternatives, and that he represents all Bangor residents, not just bus riders. Ben Sprague delivered a long soliloquy about the merits of public transportation before casting his “No” vote.

Much of the public opposition came from an organized group of downtown merchants, residents, and property owners. The gist of their argument is that a bus hub would be “in the way” of future development, including a pedestrian mall or extended green space in the center of town.

It’s difficult to understand their continued resistance, as they are among the people who stand to benefit most from an improved bus system and a downtown hub. And the plan preserves much of the square for open public space.

A modern bus hub in Pickering Square will emphasize the centrality of public transportation in Bangor’s future. Everyone who ventures downtown will see it. Some of them will decide to use the bus on their next trip.

But perhaps we need to take a harder look at the issue of “classism” that was raised during the debate. Why does the impression linger that the bus system is there to serve primarily lower-income people who can’t afford to own a car? Why don’t more professionals ride the bus? Why is a downtown hub so often seen as an obstacle and not an asset?

In many other places in the world, including parts of the United States, bus ridership cuts a wider demographic swath. Lawyers and businesspeople take the bus to work alongside janitors and cashiers. Enlightened municipal governments recognize that reducing the number of cars downtown results in a friendlier streetscape, filled with customers happy to spend money at curbside establishments.

But Maine remains married to the automobile. This is due in part to the state’s rural ethos. There’s no tradition of public transportation. Riding buses is something people From Away do. In my adolescence in Blue Hill, the kids had a name for such folk: “straphangers.”

Decades of car-first public policy have cemented this perception in the public consciousness. Why take a bus when you can park virtually anywhere for free? Proposals for paid parking in downtown Bangor, which might steer some people toward the bus, are met with howls of protest. It takes a year to put up a parking garage, but eight years to make a decision on the location of a bus hub.

Former Councilor Gibran Graham, owner of the downtown Briar Patch bookstore, pointed out that the buses have been in Pickering Square longer than most of the businesses surrounding it. Why aren’t the businesses taking advantage of their proximity to the bus hub, instead of lobbying to move it? Why can’t the Bangor Children’s Museum, for example, run a promotion for families who bring their kids into town on the bus? Why can’t the downtown restaurants do the same? Get a coupon on the bus; get a half-price meal or free dessert. Opportunities abound.

But the perception persists that the sole beneficiaries of the bus hub are bus riders, and that the standing-room-only attendance at recent Council meetings does not represent the community as a whole. In fact, better public transportation benefits everyone. A central, accessible, visible hub will attract new riders, and extended evening hours will attract even more. Every passenger on a bus represents a car not driven, a parking space left vacant for someone else.

I launched this blog five years ago. At the time, I likened it to tossing a pebble in a pond and letting the ripples spread outward. In those five years I’ve seen support for public transportation in the Bangor area grow. Current City Council members ran and won on platforms espousing better bus service. Many more people have tossed many more pebbles. The ripples have become waves. And a big one washed ashore last week.

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