AUBURN – The operators of CityLink, Lewiston-Auburn’s bus system, will consider ways to expand when they meet next month to talk about the future.

Plans could include offering bus service to Portland and Farmington.

“But how do we do that, and how do we pay for it?” said Don Craig, of the Lewiston-Auburn Transit Committee.

“The point is, the area is growing and so are we,” Craig said. “We have more people coming in from the edges of our service area. So, we need to determine what we want to do about that.”

LATC operates CityLink buses, which run only in Lewiston and Auburn. The committee is scheduled to start talking about the group’s future and whether it has a role in regional transportation.

“This has been an issue for both city governments,” Craig said. “I think they’d like us to start addressing it. At this point, though, it really is just discussion. I expect the committee to ask us to come up with some different scenarios, and the pros and cons of doing something different.”

Questions include what kind of impact a passenger intermodal facility – which would offer bus, train and air service at the Auburn-Lewiston Municipal Airport – would have on the group’s services. Service outside the area, specifically to Farmington and Portland, could also be talked about.

“But right now, the LATC is just set up to deal with local transit issues,” Craig said. “Do we even want to be involved in the passenger intermodal facility? It may make sense, but we need to talk about it first.”

The meeting is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 11.

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