Company Profile
Casco Bay Lines
Company Overview
Casco Bay Island Transit District (CBITD), also known as Casco Bay Lines, operates passenger, vehicle and freight service year-round. Casco Bay Lines ensures that passengers have safe, dependable and reliable transportation, and is considered the “lifeline” for the residents of the islands. Casco Bay Lines’ ferries transport more than one million passengers, 35,000 vehicles and over 500,000 pieces of freight annually. Casco Bay Lines also delivers the U.S. mail and transports island students to and from Portland. A wide range of specialty cruises and charter trips for celebrations, meetings and sightseeing are available as well.
CBITD is a body corporate and politic created under State Enabling Legislation in 1981 to serve residents and visitors of six Casco Bay islands: Peaks Island, Little Diamond Island, Great Diamond Island and Cliff Island (which are within the City of Portland), and the Towns of Long Island and Chebeague Island. The CBITD Board is composed of 12 Directors — 10 elected from the islands, one appointed by the City of Portland, and one appointed by the Commissioner of the Maine Department of Transportation.
Company History
Casco Bay Lines is one of the oldest ferry systems in the country. Nearly 150 years ago we transported summer visitors to cottages and luxurious hotels on the islands of Casco Bay. Wooden steamers with coal fired engines transported up to 1,000 passengers at a time.
When the original Casco Bay Lines declared bankruptcy in 1981, the Casco Bay Island Transit District (CBITD), a quasi-municipal, non-profit corporation, was established on April 17, 1981 through emergency State legislative action to ensure the continuation of service to the islands of Casco Bay.