Metro bus stop clearing

[John Brooking]

Following up on my comments about "my" bus stop on Outer Congress, I started with the Metro contact form and had an email conversation with Operations Assistant Denise Anania. As a result of my complaint, the stop DID get cleared pretty well in early February, but has not been cleared since. Then I asked if there was a list of whose responsibility all the stops were, and wondered if not having a sidewalk made a difference (figuring that the ones that have a sidewalk would at least have the sidewalk cleared, maybe by another agency). Here is her answer to that:

Dear Mr. Brooking,
Clearing well over 700 stops at once is unfortunately not feasible. We prioritize our high-volume stops with higher ridership first before moving on to others.
While I understand this may not be the response you were hoping for, please be assured that our teams are working hard to clear our stops as quickly as possible.
Please reach out if you have any further questions.
Best regards,
Denise Anania

So how I interpret this is that all the stops are ultimately their responsibility, but they don't have the resources to get to them all, so they prioritize, understandably and properly, but as a result, some just never rise up far enough in the list unless there's a complaint. The sad reality. 

John Brooking

Cyclist, Cycling Educator, Technologist

https://www.facebook.com/CyclingSavvy4ME/, http://cyclingsavvy.org

[Joey Brunelle]

So call me a radical, but I think that "it's not feasible to snow clear all our bus stops" is not an acceptable response from a bus operator. It would be like the Jetport saying that it's not "feasible" to remove the snow around all their terminals, but only the "high volume" terminals. 

How is anyone supposed to view METRO as reliable and safe enough to integrate into their daily life if they are forced to stand in and navigate a snowbank whenever it snows during a Maine winter?

Does anyone believe that Montreal doesn't clear snow around bus stops and just says, "sorry, nothing we can do!" No - they see snow clearing and accessibility as table stakes to the service they provide, BECAUSE IT IS.

I'm adding this to my list of things to try to fix when I get on the City Council. (Oh, sorry, I kinda buried the lede there - I'm running for City Council at-large later this year.)

- Joey

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[John Brooking]

Well, my practical question is where would the funding come from for another position and/or more equipment? Nobody wants a fare increase, and taxpayers don't want more subsidies. (Does Metro get tax subsidies? I confess I don't know.) I guess maybe other budget items could get deprioritized, or think outside the box for creative solutions. (Contract unemployed/underemployed people and give them snow shovels and reflective vests?)

John Brooking

Cyclist, Cycling Educator, Technologist

https://www.facebook.com/CyclingSavvy4ME/, http://cyclingsavvy.org

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[Rauschpfeife]

I'll sure vote for ya! Do you need a staff rhetorician? 

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Best, 

Michael Smith

anacharsis.substack.com

On Sun, Mar 1, 2026 at 4:52 PM Joey Brunelle <joey.b...@gmail.com> wrote:

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[Scsmedia]

Before I get into the numbers, 700 stops would be 10 two man teams doing seventy stops per day.  That is a lot of manpower and when you start looking at alternative populations, productivity is going to drop fast.

Men	20
Hours	8
Man Hours	160
Cost Per Man	$25.00
Cost Per Storm	$4,000.00

Yes, Each municipality pays an assessment based on several factors.  As you can see the total municipal fund is about 30% of the Metro budget for a total of $5.9 million (don't know why the two charts don't match).

Below is the estimated 2026 Boardings by municipality.

Attached are the FY 2026 Metro Budget and Portland's Assessment Letter presented to the Portland Finance Committee in November 2025.

Steven Scharf

207-415-4662

SCSM...@aol.com

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[Zack Barowitz]

We were just talking about this at the TPS meeting and Myles brought up that the Parks Department had three trucks clearing the ice pond at 7:30 Monday morning. As with anything else it seems less a matter of "feasibility" and more a question of resource allocation, priorities, and political will.

Z

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207-838-6120

917-696-5649
ZacharyBarowitz.com

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[James Cradock]

I do sometimes see a crew from the city digging out bus stops on Forest Ave. 

There used to be a volunteer adopt-a-stop program clearing snow, and trash, from stops. Revive it. 

Thank you. 

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