General Portland Discussion

Nothing compares to Logan, 43 million passengers to 2.5 million at the Jetport. I have driven and taken the bus for Concord and CJ. What am I saving? my insanity? There have been several times the plane is late getting into logan, then I miss the wonderful luxury coach to Portland, wait another hour hopefully it's not full. Oh wait, traffic is at a standstill coming out of Logan, then Rt 1 traffic. Now it's another hour of sitting in traffic. I just realized I have another 2 hours of sitting on a bus. Time is precious these days. My house is about less than 20 from PWM. I get a late flight and I am in Bed by 11pm depending on airline. I value my sleep!!! in my bed!! for example: I go to Aruba at least once a year, AA has great flights and times thru CLT, no terminal changes, the other flight is nearby and I have 2 hours to get something to eat, bathroom etc. for the long flight to Aruba. I don't have get up at 04 hundred to get on a crap shoot to logan. Then on the way back, I don't have to get up so early, I have a 3-hour connection for customs and immigration, which I have the easy pass for entry (Global). I am home in bed by 1130 at the latest. And everyone pushes logan!!! Plus mainline is utilized more than ever at PWM which allows better connections.
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Nice to hear there is someone who shares my views on riding the bus to and from Boston. And I do not fault anyone including our friend TC who chooses to do so and for some connections that involve the business community I totally understand his point. If I had never experienced the Concord Coach option I would not have made any comments but I have and it was time consuming and has the same limitations as sitting on a plane. The first bus leaves the Portland Transportation Center just after 3 AM which means Portlanders have to get up by 2 to get there the required 20 to 30 minutes prior to departure and if you live in the Brunswick, Lewiston and Sebago Lake area you might as well not go to bed! In addition, I do not handle turbulence very well and to have a layover on a cross country trip to help stabilize my equilibrium can be a blessing if its a really rough flight.
 
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Portlander said:
Nice to hear there is someone who shares my views on riding the bus to and from Boston. And I do not fault anyone including our friend TC who chooses to do so and for some connections that involve the business community I totally understand his point. If I had never experienced the Concord Coach option I would not have made any comments but I have and it was time consuming and has the same limitations as sitting on a plane. The first bus leaves the Portland Transportation Center just after 3 AM which means Portlanders have to get up by 2 to get there the required 20 to 30 minutes prior to departure and if you live in the Brunswick, Lewiston and Sebago Lake area you might as well not go to bed! In addition, I do not handle turbulence very well and to have a layover on a cross country trip to help stabilize my equilibrium can be a blessing if its a really rough flight.
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For someone who travels almost weekly I find Concord Coach Lines to be critical in getting to where I need to go. PWM is very limited in its connection options and until that changes CCL will continue to be a clean, convenient way to get to Boston to catch flights. I live on Sebago Lake and I have plenty of time to get my sleep in and get to the station in plenty of time to catch the first bus.
 
PlantArch said:
For someone who travels almost weekly I find Concord Coach Lines to be critical in getting to where I need to go. PWM is very limited in its connection options and until that changes CCL will continue to be a clean, convenient way to get to Boston to catch flights. I live on Sebago Lake and I have plenty of time to get my sleep in and get to the station in plenty of time to catch the first bus.
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And it's the bus coming back from Logan too--hourly, as flights rarely land with a predictable time. Also, if full, they will sometimes add a second bus. During the holidays I took it from Portland to South Station to catch Amtrak to New Haven, and half-way across the Tobin Bridge it had been 91 minutes. The drivers can put the pedal to the metal. They are always nice too--especially the talkative funny guy. Catch a bus out of the Port Authority bus terminal in midtown Manhattan. Torture, the entire process.
 
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Portlander said:
Well if the owner of The Hardshore Distilling (from Brooklyn) claims that Portland is a suburb of Boston I guess that makes it official. Arriving at least 20 minutes prior to your Concord Coach "madhouse scene" departure, a minimum of a 90 minute bus ride and then a two hour wait until your flight actually departs Boston is a CONNECTION on a bus instead of a plane! I'll take a flight out of PWM with one stop anywhere in the country and enjoy food options, clean restrooms and the ability to stretch my legs in a modern, climate controlled terminal any day. I agree with you on the price difference between the two airports but when you add in parking charges, cost of the bus ride round trip and the value of your time the cost savings are sometimes not that far apart. Nothing is more depressing than landing in Boston and realizing you still have at least a two hour journey before you get home, I've done it numerous times but never again unless it is an overseas flight. I also don't consider 300 riders on 6 Concord buses as a mind blowing amount of flyers that are choosing BOS over PWM on a daily basis and I bet most of them are actually international travelers. BOS is the unquestioned hub of New England but there are 15 airports in the US that are considered more of a hub!
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Concord Coach has never been a "mad house" scene in the two decades I have been using it. I have ridden the bus to BOS hundreds of time and I am grateful for their competent service. The daily ridership from CCL in Portland to BOS is well in excess of 300 a day.
 
PlantArch said:
Concord Coach has never been a "mad house" scene in the two decades I have been using it. I have ridden the bus to BOS hundreds of time and I am grateful for their competent service. The daily ridership from CCL in Portland to BOS is well in excess of 300 a day.
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It's relative for Maine (a madhouse). It can get busy in this tiny terminal concurrent with the 6:30 NYC bus (the one I would take). Today, or post Covid, not so sure.
 
I am curious, for those who take CCL, what flights are you taking? aka destinations?
Airlines?
 
I love the Downeaster (for the romance with trains) but it's not realistic to depend on. I will take an Uber from North Station to Logan, but only if I have time to kill. The Blue Line transfer is somewhat inconvenient. And sometimes with the train "they get you." The track delays, or maybe they are few and far between now. But I've been on a train sitting on the tracks only 40 minutes from Boston for well over an hour, nearly missing a flight from Logan, so it's no more of that for me. I think if they improved the quality of the passenger cars I would take it more often, but now I've heard that they are replacing the cars with "restored cars" that will have insufficient heating at the windows. I hate cold drafts. Who doesn't? If maybe two cars were replaced with double-level ones, with expansive view windows on the top ones, I think there would be a renewed interest in the train. I also think better food and drink options with QR code ordering and delivery to your seat would be a good idea. Add a delivery charge too. I'd pay for it. And maybe a little designed bar in the dining car? Like flying First Class in a 747 or A380? That would be fun. Times are changing. We want to be entertained as much as possible. Life can get boring.
 
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We've taken Concord to Logan numerous times. Convenient, clean and safe are the 3 words that come to mind. You can't beat their Portland>Logan schedule.

We fly direct roundtrip from Logan to San Diego.
 
PWMFlyer said:
I am curious, for those who take CCL, what flights are you taking? aka destinations?
Airlines?
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I don't travel for work, so I typically only fly on vacation. I used CCL a couple of years ago when I was flying to London, and last year when our flight out of IAH was cancelled due to thunderstorms and we rebooked to BOS. But typically, if the cost or timing difference is significant, we'll go out of Boston, and I'd never use the train for that (CCL all the way). Train is for going to Boston itself, or if I'm transferring to South Station and would rather have the train experience the whole way.
 
PWMFlyer said:
I am curious, for those who take CCL, what flights are you taking? aka destinations?
Airlines?
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You name it. I love it because I can get to BOS early enough to catch the first flight to any number of destinations. Probably 90% of my travel is to the west, intermountain west and west coast. Based on their time zone I can easily arrive by noon, relax and prep for business later in the day or the next day.
 
Can someone tell me or us what this large parking lot is for? Is something else--a building--on the way? It's next to UNE, so maybe I've answered my question. Seems a bit bold to do that though. And when this new athletic center or dorm is built, the irascible geezer with the lone house (and its yard of junk) on top of the school grounds will be nearly at the core of the university. I guess the school (and relatives) are waiting for him to pass on to the next world.


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It is indeed parking for UNE, with a shuttle service up the hill to the campus. Parking on the main campus is very tight, and it's still TBD whether the new College of Medicine lot will really accommodate everyone from that school.

That bit at the far left of the photo, past the UNE lot of you were driving in from Bishop St., is a surviving National Guard facility.
 
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