When a mother gets to her job on time, she can pay the rent and make sure her children have enough to eat. When a student arrives at community college, a new future opens up. When a child’s family brings them to the pediatrician, they get a healthy start in life. One thing connects these small but significant journeys: access to safe and reliable transportation.

Transportation is a bridge linking where families are and where they want to be — in life as much as on a map. Without it, they can find themselves disconnected not just from physical destinations, but from opportunity.

This is especially true in Maine. Our jagged coastline, rugged terrain and rural landscapes create real transportation challenges. Long miles can separate home, work and essential services. Maine’s transportation investments have prioritized road infrastructure, and public transit options are often limited. As a result, most Mainers rely on personal vehicles. But the cost of buying, fueling and maintaining a car — or even getting a driver’s license — is out of reach for many families.

The John T. Gorman Foundation recently released a report prepared by Maine Applied Research to gauge the extent of the problem. It found that:

• An estimated 40,000 Maine households do not have a vehicle.
• About 10,500 Mainers are unemployed due to a lack of transportation.
• Transportation can cost over $1,000 per month for a Maine family of four — more than the basic costs of food or housing.
• Mainers in “zero-car” households have to forego an estimated 28.3 million rides a year they would have taken with transportation access.
• Maine public transit meets only 11% of the total demand for needed rides.

For Mainers caught in the transportation gap, these challenges are more than an inconvenience. In the foundation’s two-generation work to support children and their families, we’ve seen transportation issues frequently threaten the progress of those who are working hard to meet their essential needs, strengthen their financial footing and create opportunity.

When you’re living on razor-thin margins, even a minor setback can deal a serious blow. A failed car inspection could keep a student from attending classes they need to advance their career. A misaligned bus schedule might force a family to choose between a better-paying job and stable child care. A missed ride to work could mean reduced pay — or lost employment.

These limitations don’t just hold back individuals. They hamstring our state’s workforce. Employers across Maine consistently cite inadequate transportation options as a challenge to hiring and retaining staff. To keep our state’s families and economy moving forward, we need a transportation system that meets the needs of more Mainers.

No silver bullet will solve this issue alone. Expanding transportation access will take collaboration and a combination of strategies. Fortunately, we can look to successful efforts in Maine and beyond for potential approaches.

At a household level, matched savings accounts are helping families set money aside for down payments and nonprofits are selling donated cars at reduced prices. Other programs — like Don’t Despair Car Repair in Western Maine — help families make essential vehicle repairs.

Several other options exist for closing transportation gaps on a community level. These not only include fixed-route transit service, but also car sharing, micro-transit, volunteer driver programs and workforce-centered solutions. In the Lewiston-Auburn area, for instance, Western Maine Transportation Services and Strengthen L-A have launched WorxLink, a low-fee shuttle service to take workers to their jobs, including night shifts.

Approaches like these could be tailored to the unique needs of Maine communities across the state. But systemic approaches are also necessary. For this, state and regional leaders can look to existing models that center the diverse needs of users — rather than any specific transportation modes — when making decisions on services and investment.

Like housing and child care, lack of transportation access in Maine deserves our attention. To build a stronger future, we need to ensure more people can connect to opportunity. Achieving this will require collaboration and innovation, but, working together, we can get there.