Case Details

- Case Details:

Case Number:

2025-00160

Case Status:

Closed

Utility/Industry Type :

Water Carriers

Utility/Industry Subtype :

None

Case Type :

REQUEST FOR APPROVAL

Case Subtype :

PROPOSED INCREASE IN RATES IN CASCO BAY

Pertaining to Utility/Company :

CASCO BAY ISLAND TRANSIT DISTRICT

Case Title :

REQUEST FOR APPROVAL OF PROPOSED INCREASE IN RATES IN CASCO BAY PERTAINING TO CASCO BAY ISLAND TRANSIT DISTRICT.

Initiating Filer :

CASCO BAY ISLAND TRANSIT DISTRICT

Case Start Date :

5/23/2025

Assigned Staff :

Dale.Coty,
Jordan.D.McColman,
Rebecca.McMahon,
amy.mills,
Janet.Couture,
Jason.Marco

View Case References

Filings (38) Data Requests (0)Public Comments (115) Active Party and Notification List (12) Assigned Staff (6)

Item No.	Date Filed	Description Of Filing	Filing Party	Filed By	No of Attachments	Deleted Filings
38	1/9/2026	Office of the Public Advocate's Motion in Support of Joint Petition	OFFICE OF THE PUBLIC ADVOCATE	PUBLIC ADVOCATE, MAINE OFFICE OF THE	1
37	1/4/2026	Attachments to Joint Petition of Lead Petitioner Mary Lou Wendell and Thomas H. Somers to Reconsider and Vacate the Commission's Order of December 15, 2025	Somers, Thomas	Somers, Thomas	5
36	1/4/2026	Joint Petition of Lead Petitioner Mary Lou Wendell and Thomas H. Somers to Reconsider and Vacate the Commission's Order of December 15, 2025	Somers, Thomas	Somers, Thomas	1
35	12/15/2025	ORDER	COMMISSION, MPUC	COMMISSION, MPUC	1
34	12/1/2025	Comments on Recommended Decision	CASCO BAY ISLAND TRANSIT DISTRICT	McDonald, Kelly M.	1
33	12/1/2025	Office of the Public Advocate's Exceptions to the Recommended Decision	OFFICE OF THE PUBLIC ADVOCATE	PUBLIC ADVOCATE, MAINE OFFICE OF THE	1
32	12/1/2025	Exceptions of Lead Petitioner Margaret Kelsey, Lead Petitioner Mary Lou Wendell and Thomas H. Somers to Recommended Decision	Somers, Thomas	Somers, Thomas	1
31	12/1/2025	PUC staff recommended decision exceptions	Wendell, Mary Lou	Wendell, Mary Lou	1
30	11/14/2025	Recommended Decision	COMMISSION STAFF, CMS	COMMISSION STAFF, CMS	1
29	11/4/2025	Analysis of ridership: The attached spreadsheet for Sept. ticket sales and earnings shows how alternative equitable approaches not wed to the purchase of passes, a separate product, could earn more. Please consider before making a final decision.	Kelsey, Margaret	Kelsey, Margaret	1

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Posted By	Posted Date	Comments	Attachment(s)
Sharoan Cohen 131 Central Ave Peaks Island, Me. 04108 Email ID: sharoana@gmail.com Phone No.: 2077765066	11/28/2025	Dear PUC reviewers, With the Private Vehicle rate to Peaks Island currently under final review, I encourage you to consider the intention of the clause in the CBITD Mission which speaks to the preservation of "our year round community"; a community which requires economic accessibility for current residents - many of whom cannot afford an upfront per person added expense of $423 to access affordable fares to travel on a public transportation and only transportation to their homes. Islanders are forced to pay up to 225% more for bringing their private vehicles with supplies for DIY projects, groceries, pre/post procedure/operation, essential needs, supplies for a snow ban while an annual pass holder bears a $9.65 increase. I urge you to scrutinize the CBITD Board's decisions that disregard public comment and concerns from fellow Board members. A Board which now has a pattern of voting in opposition to public opinion first with the approval of the BS - Machigonne II replacement car ferry, then the passenger rate structure/the loss of the commuter book, now with the vehicle rate change. The disparity between the pass holder rate available to those who can afford an upfront $423. fee and the single ticket/monthly and Island Resident pass holders is the antithesis of equitable, fair and accessible to all as public transportation is intended to be. The Resident Pass designed to guarantee islanders could access life needs while CBITD focused on tourism and development ironically is the only pass in which the holder must pay a $10 fee for the pass yet offers nor priority for vehicle travel nor access to annual and 90 day pass holder the affordable rate. Attached is the letter I sent to the community and my colleagues on the CBITD Board. Thank you for your consideration and diligence in this matter, Sharoan Cohen	Last BOD.pdf
Peter Seraichick 668 Seashore Ave Peaks Island, Me Email ID: pseraichick@gmail.com Phone No.: 6026479434	11/20/2025	I'm writing to share my concern about the policy that requires riders to purchase a 90-day or annual passenger pass in order to receive a discounted auto ticket. I understand the goal is to bring financial stability after years of increasing deficits, and that's important for the long-term health of the service. However, this type of bundling creates confusion and unnecessary cost for people who only need to bring a vehicle across occasionally. Passenger passes and auto fares are separate services, and linking them together makes it harder for many riders to participate. A discount should really go to those who frequently bring their autos back and forth - a true volume discount - rather than requiring everyone to buy a long-term passenger pass they may not use. Decoupling the two would still support the ferry's financial needs while making the system feel fairer, more transparent, and more accessible to the full community.
Sam Dupont 131 Central Ave	7/27/2025	Returning home for medical reasons I, a lifelong islander and college student(broke), spent $45 on boat tickets in order to have access to my mother's home-of whom I am still a dependent of. This cost was merely to run essential errands and have doctor's appointments over a 4 day period. I will continue to have doctors appointments that (because of insurance) must be in maine; and will continue to pay unreasonable expenditures in order to have a place to call home. Getting the months pass, or a trimonthly pass is not economically sensible for my purposes. I hope this comment can illuminate some of the quiet voices who are at the will of Casco Bay Lines. I am part of a large cohort of twenty-somethings who do not reside on Peaks, yet who are still utterly dependent on the island and its public transportation when push comes to shove; we a cohort of broke college students to whom every dollar makes a difference.
Thomas Somers West Point Dad 320 Morning Glory Drive Garner, NC 27529 Email ID: thomashsomers@gmail.com Phone No.: 8023630942	7/23/2025	The Peaks Island Council, in its 5/28/25, meeting, stated that the PIC has NO AUTHORITY to advocate on behalf of islanders re: CBITD rate increase. As a 35-year member of the Maine Bar, now retired, the statute governing the PIC, as well as its by-laws, contains no such silly restriction. The PIC has a fiduciary obligation, a moral obligation, to intervene before the PUC in this very case. Failing to do so merely rubber stamps everything CBITD does now and forever, setting precedent for years to come, forbidding the PIC from doing anything with respect to the most vital lifeline for Peaks Island and all associated with it. The PIC takes no position on the most important issue concerning Peaks Island's future as a vital island community in the best traditions of Maine island life. The PIC cannot address issues affecting the children of islanders using CBITD, to attend schools in Portland, seniors and low income islanders who need vital medical appointments and prescriptions via the car ferry, fellow Portlanders, Mainers and summer residents who are not only taxpayers subsidizing the CBITD monopoly, but essential members of the island community for the small businesses on Peaks and its civic groups for 150 years. The most recent PIC minutes show it involved with immigration matters with the Portland Chief of Police, the schedule that police cadets might have on the island, "congestion" caused by fellow Mainers visiting the island in the summer, an exercise station at Trott-Littlejohn Park, removal of the old shed at the ball field, the number of plantings at the Brackett Cemetery, and a great deal on the ever pressing issue in the daily livelihoods of all islanders --golf carts. See Minutes of May 28, 2025, The first items on today's PIC agenda are a porta-potty at the ballfield, the eternal wait for a ramp to Sandy Beach and its painting and "no update" on ferry service.
Mary Lou Wendell Mary Lou Wendell 146 LEDGEWOOD ST Email ID: marylouwendell@gmail.com Phone No.: 2072105756	7/14/2025	The CBITD filed a pleading late Friday on July 11 in response to the PUC inquiry questioning its decision-making process for these new, preposterous car ferry rate increases. There are a number of responses that are, in fact, non-responsive. I and others are preparing a written response pointing out where the CBITD failed to respond in good faith as requested. In the meantime, I offer the following reason the CBITD board and its responses to the PUC questions are not to be trusted: This argument about inflated rates for non-commuters and accompanying complaints is not new. It was made last year to CBITD board members when they were trying to get ticket rates for non-commuters doubled and approved by the PUC. Jean Hoffman, CBITD board member and chief architect of last year's ticket rate increase and this new car ferry increase, got her scheme approved by residents, in part, because she promised in April, 2024 (so as not to get too many complaints to the PUC) to address the injustice of fair increases for non-commuters' and their families. Ms. Hoffman wrote: "...we committed to figuring out a resident family discount pack..." (Full comment is attached...) That promise never came through and islanders continue to suffer financially as a result. I just spent $28 so two of my young adult children can come to their home, the home they were born and raised in. The new car ferry rates now add financial insult to this existing financial injury. Ms. Hoffman's duplicitous promise from last year, I firmly believe, was designed to get islanders to back her scheme to double ticket prices for non-commuters. I think the evidence I'm presenting here, in addition to the many PUC questions the CBITD board did not fully to, is just one more reason not to trust board members of the CBITD who are pushing this latest scheme despite the obvious harm it inflicts on the entire island community.	Jean Hoffman public promise from April 2024.pdf
Sharoan Cohen Island Resident 131 Central Ave. Peaks Island 04108 Email ID: sharoana@gmail.com Phone No.: (207)776-5066	7/11/2025	Please refer to my attached document regarding my opposition to the now in effect vehicle rate change to Peaks Island. Thank you, Sharoan Cohen	Vehicle rate change.odt
robert lieber 41 Bayberry Lane Email ID: robert.alfred.lieber@gmail.com Phone No.: 2074001424	6/27/2025	Please review this case, thank you.
Adam Sullivan 81 Luther St Peaks Island, ME 04108	6/27/2025	I am writing in response to the continued efforts to reverse the recent change in vehicle rates on the Casco Bay Peaks Island ferry. I completely oppose these efforts and I feel that they are in bad faith. The board spent most of the last year to come to the current plan and I believe it is extremely fair and equitable to all shareholders. Residents have access to reduced winter rates the majority of the week and visitors are still paying less to bring a car over than parking in the city for a week. There is no reasonable need to bring a car back and forth multiple times each week but if that is what someone wants to do, a vehicle pass is included in the annual pass. Summer 'residents' are visitors and still have access to cheaper rates through the 90 day pass. Do not force CBL to reverse their policies and cause further damage to the operations of the ferry that everyone relies on to get to the city.
Mary Lou Wendell Mary Lou Wendell 146 LEDGEWOOD ST Email ID: marylouwendell@gmail.com Phone No.: 2072105756	6/25/2025	Once again, I cannot stress enough that people making comments in support of this CBITD scheme, stating that a car ferry "increase" is appropriate and in order, are not people who will be paying any increase. These are islanders who will actually be paying less for the car ferry than they were before this change was implemented on June 21. These are people who look forward to paying less and who benefited greatly from last year's scheme, allowing them to buy annual passes at discounted rates. That annual pass that they are already purchasing at a discounted rate now allows these same people to use the car ferry at the same or discounted rates as before with the added advantage that the lines for the ferry will be much shorter because fewer people can afford to visit Peaks Island by car ferry now. Last year's changes also benefited upper-income islanders on Peaks while placing the financial burden of covering these cost reductions on lower-income islanders and visitors. So this latest scheme is an "increase" for sure, but not for many of the people on this website saying how great this "increase" is. They are saying this increase is great so long as other people are paying it and subsidizing the decrease they are enjoying. This rate change is hurting many, many islanders, year-round islanders who are not commuters, seasonal cottage owners, and island business owners, all of whom face a shattered island life. If the PUC approves this change, the life many have known will be irretrievably lost because family, friends, and others cannot visit the island anymore as a result of this shift to reductions for seniors and commuters while placing the financial burden of covering for these reductions on everyone else, the majority of whom are lower income islanders.
Peter Robinson Poultney Vermont Email ID: peter@robinsonandson.net Phone No.: 518-683-0876	6/25/2025	I am a property owner on Peaks. It appears to me that the significant rate rise in vehicle rates to Peaks is in order,noting that almost 50% of the present CBL budget consists of federal funds. In the face of the recent government cuts to education, research and soon Medicaid, the subsidized portion of the budget is certainly in some jeopardy going forward. The CBL board, presumably in consultation with counsel,attempted to formulate a rate rise which was as fair and legal as possible, yet with provisions to provide some potential relief for year round Peaks residents. A significant rate hike was not only justified for this and other reasons, but it was necessary to maintain service to Peaks and the other islands which residents and tourists have come to expect , in keeping with mission mandates. With financial realities of CBL as a key consideration, I support the new vehicle fare structure: the question of whether or the CBL board successfully threaded the fair and legal needle in the new rates is something the PUC must now decide.

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Notification List Active Party List

Name of Person/Company	Representing Company	Mailing Address	Email/Phone/Fax
Chamberlin, Susan W		103 Water Street, 3rd Flr SHS #112 Hallowell ME 04347	Email ID: susan.w.chamberlin@maine.gov Phone Ph: 207-624-3679 Fax: Fax: 207-287-4300
Giggey, Sharon	CASCO BAY ISLAND TRANSIT DISTRICT	PO Box 9785 Portland ME 04104 5085	Email ID: sgiggey@mpmlaw.com Phone Ph: 207-523-8230 Fax: Fax: 207-773-8023
Gildart, Caity		ME	Email ID: CaityG@cascobaylines.com Phone Fax:
Hevey, Richard	OFFICE OF THE PUBLIC ADVOCATE	112 State House Station Augusta ME 04333 0112	Email ID: richard.p.hevey@maine.gov Phone Ph: 207-557-0290 Fax:
Kelsey, Margaret		216 Island Ave Peaks Island ME 04108	Email ID: mhkelsey@mhkleadership.com Phone Ph: 207-274-4747 Fax:
Lightbody, John C	CASCO BAY ISLAND TRANSIT DISTRICT	PO Box 9785 Portland ME 04104 5085	Email ID: jlightbody@mpmlaw.com Phone Ph: 207-523-8217 Fax: Fax: 207-773-8023
Mavodones, Nicholas		PO Box 4656 Portland ME 04112	Email ID: NickM@cascobaylines.com Phone Ph: 207-774-7871 Fax:
McDonald, Kelly M.		PO Box 9785 Portland ME 04104	Email ID: kmcdonald@mpmlaw.com Phone Ph: 207-523-8219 Fax: Fax: 207-773-8023
Sanborn, Heather		103 Water Street, 3rd FLr SHS 112 Hallowell ME 04347	Email ID: heather.sanborn@maine.gov Phone Ph: 207-624-3680 Fax:
Somers, Thomas		320 Morning Glory Drive Garner NC 27529	Email ID: thomashsomers@gmail.com Phone Ph: 802-363-0942 Fax:

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Staff Name	Role
Coty, Dale	Support Staff
Couture, Janet	Support Staff
Marco, Jason	Staff Analyst
McColman, Jordan	Reviewer
McMahon, Rebecca	Hearing Examiner
Mills, Amy	Hearing Examiner

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