BETHEL – State Transportation Commissioner David Cole is to tout the success of a western Maine public transportation system at 1 p.m. Monday, Dec. 6.

Cole is also to speak about the Maine Department of Transportation’s progress on improvements to Route 26, the main thoroughfare to Sunday River Ski Area.

The event starts at the Bethel Inn and Country Club and includes a ride of a typical route on the Mountain Explorer public transportation system. It ends at the Phoenix House and Well restaurant near Sunday River Ski Resort.

Now in its fourth year of operation, Mountain Explorer serves Bethel and Sunday River communities.

The system is funded through local businesses and with a federal grant received through the department.

Local businesses have raised $280,000 to date, and of that amount, Sunday River has contributed $123,000, said Sunday River spokeswoman Susan DuPlessis.

Modeled after the Island Explorer program in Bar Harbor, Mountain Explorer runs from November through mid-April.

Mountain Explorer has served nearly 80,000 riders in its three years of operation, increased ridership by 32 percent in its second year, and now serves many elderly residents in the region, in addition to winter recreational visitors, DuPlessis said.