Transportation Developments

[DPCMikeT]

The Jetport has landed JetBlue with talks with another airline, The Cat is coming in May, and Metro has new buses, Portland is now a transportation center. The Jetport is expected to release details of a new garage and new terminal plans soon. Oceangateway is underway and will completed by 2007.

[Cotuit]

The Cat is coming in May

The Cat is moving from Bar Harbor? Hmmm, I might have to plan a trip to N.S.

[DPCMikeT]

The cat is not moving from Bar Harbor, but is adding service to NS. The Cat will also serve Bar Harbor.. The Cat will go out of Portland 3x a week.

[Cotuit]

The Cat will go out of Portland 3x a week.

Hmm, interesting.

[Inkdaub]

Is this Cat that you all are talking about changing it's routes to compensate for the Nova Scotia ferry that found deadly mold in it's headquarters in Portland?

How long does it take to ride the ferry to Nova Scotia?

[DPCMikeT]

Is this Cat that you all are talking about changing it's routes to compensate for the Nova Scotia ferry that found deadly mold in it's headquarters in Portland?

How long does it take to ride the ferry to Nova Scotia?

The scotia prince was the prime link to Nova Scotia since the seventies. Then the cat aka Bay Ferries started running the ferry from Bar Harbor. With this new technology of a fast catamaran, business started to fall. The scotia prince was not that great. It had taken 12 hours vs the cat which will now take 6 hours on the weekends only, with service on the weekdays in bar harbor. So with business dwindling, scotia prince was trying to find ways to swindle money, so comes the mold problem they came up with. They cancelled service and sued the city for millions they thought they lost from the cancelled season. I believe the city came out on top. Now the boat sits ideled in New orleans, no wants the boat, they tried to sell it, no one wanted to buy it. The city wanted out of the contract a long time ago, the cat has always had a interest in Portland. So city officials tried everything to get rid of the junky boat service out of portland. Plus scotia prince claimed they had a clause in their contract to be the only game in town.

[DPCMikeT]

JetBlue Airways' arrival at the Portland International Jetport today represents more than four round-trip flights daily between Maine and JFK in New York.

With prices as low as $59 for a one-way ticket, the discount airline will significantly affect air service to Portland. In fact, the so-called "JetBlue effect" already has begun to drive down prices and encourage additional flights among other carriers.

Before the announcement of JetBlue's plans for Maine, airlines had been shrinking the number of seats available to and from Portland by cutting flights and using smaller planes. hose cutbacks, in turn, caused fares to rise substantially.

Overnight, JetBlue's arrival increases the number of seats available by 20 percent.

Its network of 37 destinations - although more limited than most of the other carriers flying from Portland International Jetport - will force competitors on those routes to cut their fares, in some cases dramatically.

JetBlue flies to the West Coast, Florida, the Caribbean, the Northeast and mid-Atlantic. It is continuing to expand its route network, despite financial losses caused by high fuel prices. The company has said it may add as many as 10 destinations this year.

Airport officials believe the new airline could reverse the flow of travelers who have been going to Boston or Manchester, N.H., in search of lower fares. They said JetBlue might encourage enough travelers to fly through Portland that it will lead to an expansion of the terminal

[DPCMikeT]

PORTLAND TO YARMOUTH

SAILING DAYS: The Cat will sail between Portland and Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, each Friday, Saturday and Sunday until mid-October.

TICKET PRICES: Off-season, one-way fare for adults is $79, increasing to $89 on June 23. Taking a car starts at $129 each way.

[Cotuit]

I took the Scotia Prince in 1997-98 sometime around there. I took it from Portland to Yarmouth, so it was overnight. I thought the whole boat was pretty cheesy, but it was a good way to sleep and travel my way to NS. Now returing to Portland was an all-day affair, so you lose that moving and sleeping advantage. We drove back via New Brunswick. I'm thinking of maybe taking the Cat out of Portland this year. Prices look good, and it's so quick!