LEWISTON – Maine’s bus systems are aging to the point of failure, operators warned Monday.

Operators of the state’s four largest bus systems – the Bangor Area Transit System, Portland’s Metro System, the Lewiston Auburn Transit Committee and South Portland’s Transportation and Waterfront department – warned that their systems have been underfunded for years. As a result of putting off purchasing new buses, maintenance costs have skyrocketed.

“It’s an issue that we’re all going to be considering during the next few months as we figure out our budgets for the next year,” said Phil Nadeau, deputy city administrator and chairman of the Lewiston-Auburn Transit Committee. “As a state, we have to do something. We need to decide if we’re going to do it right and properly fund transit systems or if we’re going to stop spending this money altogether.”

Representatives from the four transit agencies said they plan on hosting town hall-style citizens forums around Maine in March and April to call attention to the problem. They called for better funding nationally for rural transit systems, like those in Maine.

“We’re going to do what we can to keep this issue in front of the public and in front of our elected officials,” Nadeau said. “There has got to be a way to do something better than we are now.”

The problem came to head in Lewiston last summer, when four of the city’s newest buses, purchased in 2006, were out of commission at the same time. The city relied on buses borrowed from Western Maine Transportation System to keep the routes up and running.

“If that happened now, we’d be out of luck,” Nadeau said. “I’d be more inclined to close the entire system.”

The other operators have similar complaints. Portland’s Dave Redlefsen said 10 of his fleet of 27 buses have more than 700,000 miles.

“That we are able to keep running is more of a testament to the skills of my maintenance staff than anything else,” Redlefsen said.

South Portland’s maintenance costs have increased 43 percent since 2006, according to Tom Meyers, director of that city’s system.

“These are the problems of the four largest systems in the state,” Nadeau said. “Imagine how things are looking for the rest, the other 27 transportation providers in Maine.”