Commuting/Gas/Transportation

Another plank on the platform...

Anyone that has commuted into the peninsula knows that route 100, route 302, Brighton and congress are major traffic flows for the morning and evening commute. Whats noticable is that almost all the cars have a single occupant. One car = one person. While the traffic is not as bad as major cities, the intown parking combined with the other costs of commuting(time, gas, congestion etc) Portland should be at the forefront of dealing with this issue.

My idea: commuter parking lots at the periphery of Portland(see #2 below for lot solution). These lots would be serviced by express bus runs into town(not to the bus station but down union, across commercial and up india). Commuters would be able to park their car and take a relatively quick run into town without frequent stops and save 14-20 miles per day.

These lots would be marketed and a rideshare program could be developed via a city web site. Two other thoughts:

1. Registered car poolers. Program that would offer subsidized or free intown parking with 3 or more passengers.
2. Work with Hannafords to utilize excess parking capacity for the commuter lots. The Hannafords at West Falmouth Crossing, Riverside Drive, Westbrook, Scarborough and the Mall would work perfectly as satellite lots. Hannaford could be given tax credit per spot allocated.