Founded | 1999 |
---|---|
Locale | Mount Desert Island, Maine |
Service area | Hancock County, Maine |
Service type | Bus service |
Routes | 10 |
Destinations | Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor, Trenton, Schoodic Peninsula |
Fleet | 36 buses, 4 vans |
Fuel type | Propane |
Operator | Downeast Transportation |
Chief executive | Paul Murphy |
Website | http://www.exploreacadia.com |
The Island Explorer is a seasonal bus system which provides fare-free transportation on and near Mount Desert Island in Maine, United States. It is operated by Downeast Transportation and is largely intended to serve visitors to Acadia National Park as a means to reduce area traffic within the park and in area communities, including the Schoodic Peninsula. It typically runs from mid-June through the beginning of October, departing from Kennebec Street to the west of Bar Harbor's Village Green. Operations began in 1999, and in 2019, the service carried over 647,000 passengers. [1]
The service began operations in 1999. Regular operations are funded from a variety of sources, including a dedicated portion of Acadia National Park entrance fees from the National Park Service, the Maine Department of Transportation, L.L. Bean, municipal governments, the group Friends of Acadia, as well as local businesses directly served by the service. L.L. Bean's contribution totals $4 million since 2002. [1] To reduce pollution, the bus fleet is powered by propane. 21 new buses were purchased in 2019 to replace a portion of the fleet of 36, the purchase funded by the National Park Service and State of Maine. The service also has four vans and two bicycle trailers. The service typically hires 110 drivers a year. [1] Buses carry 30 seated and 13 standing passengers. [2]
Service is typically offered from June 23 through the beginning of October, with service on the Schoodic Peninsula beginning slightly earlier on Memorial Day. [2] Since 1999, the service has carried 7.7 million passengers. It has prevented 41 tons of smog-causing pollutants and 27,000 tons of greenhouse gases from being released. [1]
The service was cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the difficulty of complying with social distancing measures imposed by the State of Maine. Those measures would have limited bus capacity to twelve people. [3] Downeast Transportation, the operator, plans to resume limited service on fewer routes in 2021. Capacity will be limited to 12 people with every other row of seats vacant and only the members of the same group permitted to sit in the same row. [2]
Acadia National Park is an American national park located along the mid-section of the Maine coast, southwest of Bar Harbor. The park includes about half of Mount Desert Island, part of the Isle au Haut, the tip of the Schoodic Peninsula, and portions of sixteen smaller outlying islands.
Hancock is a town in Hancock County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,466 at the 2020 census. Located on the mainland at the head of Frenchman Bay, Hancock has commanding views of Mount Desert Island.
Sullivan is a town in Hancock County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,219 at the 2020 census. The town was named for Daniel Sullivan, an early settler. Colloquially referred to as "Sully" or "the Sullivans"—like many Maine municipalities composed of villages with geographic designations of the town proper—the municipality was incorporated in 1789. Located in the Upper Schoodic Peninsula sub-region of Maine's Downeast Acadia region, the municipality has been known as "Waukeag", "New Bristol", and later Sullivan; and once included the nearby communities of Hancock, Sorrento, and what would later be Township 7, South & Middle Districts. Once home to abundant granite quarries, the town of Sullivan is now a residential community for nearby Ellsworth and Mount Desert Island. Located along U.S. Route 1, the Taunton River, and Hog Bay, Sullivan is home to a reversing tidal falls and many scenic turnouts that dot the Schoodic National Scenic Byway along the Upper Schoodic Peninsula.
Winter Harbor is a town on the Schoodic Peninsula in Hancock County, Maine, United States. The population was 461 at the 2020 census. The town is located just outside the Schoodic Peninsula portion of Acadia National Park and is due east of the town of Bar Harbor and Ellsworth. Winter Harbor was once the location of a US Naval Station, NSGA-WH, which closed in the mid-2000s, and is now home to the Schoodic Institute’s Education and Research Center.
Bar Harbor is a resort town on Mount Desert Island in Hancock County, Maine, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population is 5,089. The town is home to the College of the Atlantic, Jackson Laboratory, and MDI Biological Laboratory. During the summer and fall seasons, it is a popular tourist destination.
Mount Desert Island in Hancock County, Maine, is the largest island off the coast of Maine. With an area of 108 square miles (280 km2) it is the 52nd-largest island in the United States, the sixth-largest island in the contiguous United States, and the second-largest island on the Eastern Seaboard, behind Long Island and ahead of Martha's Vineyard. According to the 2010 census, the island has a year-round population of 10,615. In 2017, an estimated 3.5 million tourists visited Acadia National Park on MDI. The island is home to numerous well-known summer colonies such as Northeast Harbor and Bar Harbor.
"Down East", also "Downeast", is a term for parts of eastern coastal New England and Canada, particularly the U.S. state of Maine and Canada's Maritime Provinces, an area that closely corresponds to the historical French territory of Acadia. The phrase apparently derives from sailing terminology: sailors from western ports sailed downwind toward the east to reach the area.
Bay Ferries Limited, or simply, Bay Ferries, is a ferry company operating in eastern Canada and is headquartered in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. It is a subsidiary of Northumberland Ferries Limited and a sister company to the defunct Bay Ferries Great Lakes Limited.
The Schoodic Peninsula is a peninsula in Down East Maine. It is located four miles (6 km) east of Bar Harbor, Maine, as the crow flies. The Schoodic Peninsula contains 2,266 acres (9 km2), or approximately 5% of Acadia National Park. It includes the towns of Gouldsboro and Winter Harbor. The peninsula has a rocky granite shoreline containing many volcanic dikes. The peninsula is home to the former United States Navy base, NSGA Winter Harbor, which has been converted into a National Park Service training center. A 3,300-acre (13 km2) resort development was proposed for land abutting Schoodic Peninsula's national park holdings to the north. An anonymous donor eventually bought the entire 3,200-acre tract and built the Schoodic Woods Campground and miles of gravel bike paths before donating all of it to Acadia National Park. Opening in 2015, Schoodic Woods is the newest campground in Acadia National Park, and the first built in the park since the original campgrounds were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression beginning in 1936. In the summer, the Schoodic peninsula is currently served by two separate ferry services from Bar Harbor to Winter Harbor that run daily.
The King County Water Taxi is a passenger-only fast ferry service operated by the King County Metro Transit Department, Marine Division. It operates two routes between Downtown Seattle and West Seattle or Vashon Island.
Frenchman Bay is a bay in Hancock County, Maine, named for Samuel de Champlain, the French explorer who visited the area in 1604.
The Maine Department of Transportation, also known as MaineDOT, is the office of state government charged with the regulation and maintenance of roads, rail, ferries, and other public transport infrastructure in the state of Maine. An exception is the Maine Turnpike, which is maintained by the Maine Turnpike Authority. MaineDOT reports on the adequacy of roads, highways, and bridges in Maine. It also monitors environmental factors that affect the motor public such as stormwater, ice/snow buildup on roads, and crashes with moose. MaineDOT was founded in 1972 and replaced the former Maine State Highway Commission.
U.S. Naval Radio Station Otter Cliffs was a United States Navy radio receiver facility located in Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island, south of Bar Harbor, Maine.
The Calais Branch is a mothballed railroad line in Maine that was operated by the Maine Central Railroad Company (MEC).
Naval Security Group Activity, Winter Harbor was a radio station of the United States Navy that operated from 1935 to 2002.
Winter Harbor Light is a lighthouse in Winter Harbor, Maine. It is located on Mark Island, a small island between the Schoodic Peninsula and Turtle Island, near the entry to the town's main harbor. The light was built in 1856 and was deactivated in 1933; it is no longer an aid to navigation, and is privately owned. The light was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Winter Harbor Light Station on February 1, 1988.
The Acadia Night Sky Festival is an annual celebration of the starlit skies above Acadia National Park on Maine's Mount Desert Island and the Schoodic Peninsula. The festival takes place every September.
Friends of Acadia is a nonprofit membership organization that helps preserve and protect Acadia National Park and its surrounding communities. Based in Bar Harbor, Maine, the organization works with Acadia to identify areas where its advocacy can benefit the park's critical needs, such as protecting natural resources and engaging youth volunteers.
The Maine Coast Heritage Trust is a nonprofit land conservation organization. Its conservation partner is the Maine Land Trust Network, which is one of its programs.
Public transportation in Maine is available for all four main modes of transport—air, bus, ferry and rail—assisting residents and visitors without their own vehicle to travel around much of Maine's 31,000 square miles (80,000 km2).