Tens of thousands of Maine people lack reliable access to transportation – a critical access point for work, education, and more 

Thousands of working families across Maine are struggling to afford the necessities. The most recently available data finds that 32% of Maine households with children do not have high enough incomes to cover essential costs of living in their areas – including housing, childcare, food, and transportation (United for ALICE, 2024 Maine Update).

Among these costs, transportation stands out. Without transportation, families cannot access work, childcare, education, appointments, and other social supports and services they need to thrive. Maine’s highly rural population makes accessible transportation options even more important – and harder to come by.

A new data brief compiled for the John T. Gorman Foundation shows the extent of Maine’s transportation access issues. Several key findings stand out.

Lack of transportation lies at the heart of many families’ challenges, especially in a rural state like Maine where individuals typically rely on personal vehicles. Yet …

• Nearly 40,000 Maine households do not have reliable access to a vehicle. An estimated 15,000 employed workers lack a vehicle and another 52,000 live in households where the number of workers exceeds the number of vehicles.

Cost is a significant barrier to licensure and vehicle ownership for families

• Nearly 90,000 Maine adults (ages 18 and older) do not hold a driver’s license. They include over 15,000 people in their 20s – a critical time for accessing the education and employment needed to secure a prosperous future. The high cost of driver’s education classes, plus lack of vehicle access for required practice driving, can be barriers for young adults.
• Basic transportation expenses for most Maine households exceed $1,000 per month – higher than the costs of other necessities such as food and housing for many families.

Thousands of Mainers rely on public transportation, but current services are unable to meet most households’ needs

• Approximately 3,000 Mainers regularly commute using public transportation –

one in four spend 60 minutes or more on their one-way journey to work.

• A conservative estimate suggests that current public transit programs meet only 11% of Maine’s total need – 3 million out of 28 million trips per year.

You can access the full data brief here. Its findings will help inform a forthcoming report – to be released later this Spring – that will further highlight transportation needs and barriers for Maine families.