We all know and adore the good ladies of All Aboard Brunswick, members all of the carriage set who act as arbiters of what’s best for our ‘community.’ We take them to be objective, fair minded folk, who only want what’s good for us, and hold no special affinity for one civic advance over any other.
Which is why we’re expecting them to ‘get aboard’ the emerging proposal that the Metro Breez add Brunswick, the northern terminus of the Amtrak Downeaster, to their growing daily service between nearby towns and Portland.
We’ve posted on the subject in the past here: http://othersideofbrunswick.blogspot.com/2015/10/all-aboard-freeportbut-not-on-downeaster.html
Reports on the origination of the Metro Breez service have been glowing:
http://news.keepmecurrent.com/its-a-breez-metro-kicks-off-its-new-bus-service-with-first-day-fete/
We’re so sure our good ladies will be supportive that we’re suggesting they form an auxiliary to support this new offering, and call it “All Aboard Brunswick’s Breez Bus.” We’re so excited about the plan that we won’t even charge them for coming up with this inspired name.
Funny; terms like “AAB” and “AABBB” almost make one think we’re talking about bond ratings or some such.
Last week’s Town Council meeting featured a presentation by the head of the Portland Metro Bus operation. We watched the replay on community cable TV, and it appears our officials are largely in favor of the proposal, which could start service in a matter of a few months, with no need for tens of millions in capital ‘investment.’ And with ten trips every weekday! That should give some serious travel flexibility. And lots of alternatives to the Downeaster, mon Dieu!
Yesterday’s big city newspaper carried this story on the proposal: http://www.pressherald.com/2016/12/11/brunswick-mulls-link-to-portland-to-freeport-breez-bus-service/comments/
We’re counting on our friends, who have staked so much of their reputations on introducing and sustaining Downeaster service, to stand just as strongly behind this proposal. We’ve tracked down the documents used with our town officials, and made them accessible to you via these links.
https://www.scribd.com/document/334106895/Portland-Metro-Breez-schedule
https://www.scribd.com/document/334107065/TM-memo-to-Town-Council-re-Metro-Breez-proposal
https://www.scribd.com/document/334106755/Portland-Metro-Breez-Presentation
If you wish to view the discussion at the Town Council meeting, you can find it here:
http://tv3hd.brunswickme.org/Cablecast/Public/Show.aspx?ChannelID=1&ShowID=3617
According to our records, the discussion begins at time point 38:00 in the video.
Camera angles for the meetings don’t really suit our purposes and interests, but we did note a definite lack of pom-poms in the public gallery. Perhaps candidates for AABBB nomination were out uniform shopping. We certainly hope so. We’re looking forward to their display of emotion when the bus service begins, as we’re sure it will.
Every nown and then, even a perfect little town like Brunswick has to make room for common sense, unsettling as it can be.
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