A rider puts their bike on the front of a Greater Portland Metro Bus on Congress Street in Portland in February. (Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer)

The Westbrook City Council on Monday approved a program that will give high school students free passes for unlimited bus rides in Greater Portland. 

The council’s vote followed a lengthy discussion about how an additional bus stop at the corner of Stroudwater Street and Monroe Avenue, near the high school, could impact traffic in the neighborhood. 

The one-year pilot program will begin at the end of August, providing 700 students with free Metro bus passes for the 2026-27 school year. 

The agreement with Greater Portland Metro will cost the city, at most, $34,000 a year. The city will pay $1.13 per ride for up to 30,000 rides each year, using funds from rental vehicle registrations — a new funding source the city recently identified. 

The new bus stop that sparked debate arose because the school department asked Metro to improve access to the high school. The program would provide students who live within the 1.5-mile walking radius of the school an alternative way to get to school, as they are not served by school buses. 

The bus stop would only be used five times per weekday, twice in the morning, when students are getting to school, and three times in the afternoon when students are leaving. 

Residents and councilors who spoke at Monday’s council meeting agreed on the benefits of the free bus rides for students: independence, an introduction to public transportation, another way to get to school and opportunities outside of school. 

“For a young person whose family does not have reliable access to a vehicle, transportation can determine whether they can take a job, stay after school for a club or sport, volunteer, attend an appointment, get to the library, participate in something happening elsewhere in our community, or sometimes, simply get to school,” Mayor David Morse said. “An opportunity that you cannot physically reach is not much of an opportunity at all.”

The cause of disagreement was the location of the new bus stop. 

Multiple residents living on Monroe Avenue said they supported the program, but had concerns about increasing traffic on an already busy street. 

Many shared that they felt they hadn’t been notified about the new bus stop in a timely manner and wondered if the city knew how many students would actually use the program to get to school. Some said they worried it would disrupt the neighborhood. 

Morse said a Metro bus driving down Monroe Avenue a few times a day wouldn’t necessarily worsen traffic. 

“Reducing automobile dependence and congestion is one of the reasons communities invest in transit in the first place,” he said. 

For the school department, the Metro project is a creative solution to filling a transportation need for students living in the 1.5-mile radius.  

About 8% of the Westbrook population is below the poverty line, compared to 56% of the student population, Morse said. 

Some of those who live in the radius and don’t have access to a vehicle have to walk 30 to 40 minutes to get to school. Staff members often bring warm socks and dry shoes for students who have to walk to school, Westbrook School Department Chair Andrea Mancuso said. 

The students in the radius are also more likely to be late to or miss school, she said. 

According to a survey conducted by the department, more than 50% of high school students said they would take the bus if it allowed them to walk less than half a mile to school, she said. 

The department has looked for transportation solutions, but determined that reducing the radius and expanding the traditional school transportation system is not feasible. 

The school’s transportation department hasn’t been fully staffed in years due to a driver shortage, Mancuso said. There are four vacant bus driver positions, Superintendent Peter Lancia said. 

The cost of an additional school bus — between $150,000 and $200,000, according to Lancia — and a bus driver — $50,000-$60,000 salary plus benefits — far exceeds the cost of the Metro program, Councilor Anna Turcotte noted. 

Much of the 3.5-hour council meeting focused on the debate surrounding the new bus stop, prompting a discussion about traffic and road conditions in Westbrook more generally. 

Ultimately, however, the bus route and stop is out of the council’s hands. While they approved the Metro program, 5-2, the council doesn’t have the authorization to vote on bus routes. Metro works with city staff and Metro’s board of directors when they make any changes to routes or bus stops, Mike Tremblay, Metro’s director of transit development, said. 

Although the council wasn’t specifically voting on the bus route and stop, Morse said the meeting was an opportunity for members of the public to voice their concerns and opinions, which will factor into the decision making process.