South Portland transit provider gets $753K for pandemic expenses

Courtesy / City of South Portland The South Portland Bus Service is getting a financial boost from the CARES Act.

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By Staff

The South Portland Bus Service, the transit provider operating three routes across the city and connecting to Portland, has received $753,455 to help cover staffing and operating expenses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The funding was awarded by the Federal Transit Administration through a provision of the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, which directed $48.5 billion to support transportation and housing programs throughout the country.

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who chairs the Senate Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee, announced the award in a news release Wednesday.

“Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Maine faces unique challenges that make transit services both necessary and difficult to maintain,” she said. “This important funding will help cover staffing and operating expenses, aid in the maintenance of critical infrastructure, and increase access to employment, education, and health care for Mainers who use bus services.”

Collins and U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., recently introduced the Coronavirus Economic Relief for Transportation Services Act, which would authorize $10 billion in emergency economic relief funding grants for bus, motorcoach and passenger ferry industries affected by the pandemic.