The Cooperative Alliance for Seacoast Transportation, more commonly known as COAST, has announced its tentative plans to adjust several aspects of its services and procedures at the start of its next fiscal year. The changes are being driven by a shifting funding landscape at the federal level that is resulting in lower reimbursement rates for the transportation services COAST provides across the Greater Seacoast.
Beginning October 5, 2025, COAST is proposing to discontinue Routes 42 and 100 on its fixed route system, and adjusting Routes 40, 43 and 44 to continue to serve Great Bay Community College and Kittery, respectively. Service hours will be shortened on Routes 12, 13, 14, 40, 41, 43, and 44. Route 33 Saturday service will be adjusted to mimic the weekday service routing. In addition, COAST will be adding functional assessments for ADA paratransit applicants and providing increased travel training opportunities for those riders who can potentially use the fixed route bus system.
As a nonprofit organization, COAST’s annual $7.5-8.5 million budget must be raised from a variety of sources. Historically, the federal government, through the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), congressional appropriations and one-time grants, has covered 60% of COAST’s operating costs. This year, 53% of COAST’s budget is coming from federal sources and that number is projected to continue to drop by another percentage point or two.
Beginning in fiscal year 2024, COAST saw its funding from the FTA reduced by $341,980 annually because of changes in the calculations that determine apportionments and increased growth in urbanized areas nationwide that outpaced local growth and overall funding increases.
“Over the past several years, COAST has been working to diversify our funding base to account for the shifting federal funding landscape. The communities we serve have increased their contributions, as has the State of New Hampshire,” said Rad Nichols, COAST Executive Director. “We are also working to expand our base of support among local businesses, individuals and foundations. However, this transition is taking time and these strategic service adjustments will ensure that we continue to meet our number one goal—to serve as many people as we can with the resources we have been entrusted with, while also ensuring our continued fiscal health.”
The service adjustments were identified after reviewing ridership data across all COAST’s routes. The fixed routes and runs being impacted carry less than 5% of COAST’s estimated 400,000 annual ridership but cost $491,400 annually.
“The complementary ADA paratransit service we offer is how we ensure everyone has access to public transportation services, regardless of their abilities, and it is an integral part of our public transit system. It is not going away by any means. But it’s important to note that there are many people with disabilities who can and do use COAST’s fixed route bus system.,” said Nichols.
“COAST is following the lead of many other public transit systems across the country who are using travel training and functional assessments for new applicants to ensure these services are targeted to those who truly need them. By providing more training and education for people with disabilities, we will empower them to use the fixed route system when they are able. For those individuals whose abilities do not allow them to use the bus some or all of the time, our demand response services will continue to be a reliable transportation resource for them.”
Nichols further stated, “This change also represents COAST’s belief in the concept of universal design in which our fixed route system gives riders more freedom to ride when they want and at a much lower cost. We believe that these careful and strategic adjustments to our demand response services are how we can make sure that the money we are spending is going to support as many people as possible in the right ways.”
COAST’s ADA paratransit service is the fastest growing and most expensive service that COAST operates. This fiscal year, these services accounted for 24% of COAST’s total $8.2 million operating budget but just 4% of COAST’s total ridership. Demand for the service has grown by 81% between 2021 and 2024.
Since 1982, COAST has provided nearly 17 million rides to people in the Greater Seacoast region. By linking workers to jobs, patients to healthcare providers, customers to shopping and restaurants, audiences to cultural, recreational and social events, and students to school, COAST contributes an estimated $33M to the local economy each year. The transportation services they provide also serve as a lifeline for many people, an estimated 20-30% of which would not be able to make their trip without public transportation.
“A strong transportation infrastructure that offers options for people at all stages of life is essential to our region’s ongoing economic and social health,” said Nichols. “Ultimately, the long-term sustainability of COAST rests on increased investment by businesses, individuals, and foundations that recognize the contributions public transportation makes to all our lives. COAST’s work to engage these stakeholders is very much ongoing.”
Three public listening sessions related to the proposed changes will be held.
- Tuesday, July 8, 12:00-1:30 p.m. at Dover Community Action Partnership of Strafford County
- Wednesday, July 9, 5:30 p.m.-7:00 p.m. at Rochester Public Library
- Thursday, July 10, 9:30 a.m.-11:00 a.m. at Portsmouth Public Library