Bath CityBus has seen an increase in riders since the bus line launched in 2023, but officials say it still needs to improve its services and get new buses.

When the Bath CityBus service began under Western Maine Transportation Services, the ridership for fiscal year 2023 was 10,141, and for fiscal year 2024, it increased to 21,229, according to WMTS.

Craig Zurhorst, community relations manager for WMTS, presented the current ridership numbers and discussed the challenges facing Bath CityBus at a Bath City Council meeting earlier this month.

“People seem to be happy with the fares,” Zurhorst said. “The fares are $1 for one-way, and all-day passes are $2. We have a 12-ride pass for $10, and then the one-way Mid Coast Hospital ticket is $2.”

Still, Zurhorst said, the line is limited by the capacity, age and high mileage of the current busses, which don’t have enough space to keep up with demand. Buses under the Bath CityBus fleet are at or beyond useful life as defined by the Federal Transit Administration by miles traveled or age.

Zurhorst said the cost of replacing the old buses with newer models has nearly doubled since 2020. A new 12-seat and two-wheelchair bus costs approximately $152,000, compared to $74,200 in 2016.

Federal programs through the Federal Transit Administration can help significantly, covering about 80% of the purchase cost, according to Western Maine Transportation.

However, the fact that some bus manufacturers went out of business during the pandemic has left a massive backlog of orders for new, smaller buses, which are in demand for rural services.

“That is an eyewatering reality that we are dealing with, the same as the city is dealing with replacing police cruisers, dump trucks and whatever,” Zurhorst said.

The bus service is a two-bus operation, with one reserve vehicle that the city signed over to Western Maine Transportation. The bus line operates between 8 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. five days per week except for the major holidays, and an early morning bus shuttles Bath Iron Works employees.

Western Maine Transportation is exploring new ways to revamp its routes, which cover 14 miles across Bath. The company also plans to implement a five-day-per-week bidirectional commuter service from Bath, Brunswick and possibly Topsham.

The bus service also wants to add rider amenities like bus stop shelters and benches and mobile apps that allow riders to see bus locations. Additional services for the evenings and weekends have seen a demand along with bus stop signs with the Bath CityBus logo for better advertisement of the line.