Downeast Transportation Inc., a private nonprofit organization that started 25 years ago with a single bus, now has nine modern buses in operation. After a major route expansion, it serves commuters as well as shoppers and medical patients in Bangor and Down East communities offering a low-cost and environmentally friendly alternative to car trips.

Supporting the expansion are grants this year of $50,000 from The Jackson Laboratory and $9,000 from Acadia National Park, both of which see value in helping employees get to and from work and reducing automobile traffic.

Commuters from Bangor, Franklin and Cherryfield can catch early morning buses to Jackson Lab, returning home by 5 p.m. Subscribers get priority seating, with single rides available if space permits.

For midday shopping and medical appointments, Downeast Transportation offers two round trips a week to Bangor from Bar Harbor and Ellsworth, now on Fridays as well as Mondays.

With only nine buses on duty, Downeast Transportation has a tight schedule to cover these and other routes. It operates another fleet of buses seasonally on Mount Desert Island as the Island Explorer.

Schedules are available at Downeast Transportation’s headquarters in Ellsworth, at other institutions and on the buses. The company’s telephone number is 667-5796, and it has an Internet site.

General Manager Paul Murphy says that the grants plus a federal subsidy have enabled Downeast Transportation to hold rates down and expand service, unlike much of the industry.

Weekly commuting fares to Bar Harbor are $17.50 from Bangor and Cherryfield and $14.50 from Franklin and Ellsworth. Commuter service between Ellsworth and Blue Hill costs $20 per week. A single ride costs $5 on both runs. Midday fares range from $1 to $7.

Mr. Murphy notes that the Internal Revenue Service now puts the average cost of operating a vehicle at 46 cents per mile. That comes to $96 a week for 200 miles of commuting.

So for anyone who doesn’t drive or doesn’t want to drive or hates to cope alone with highway and city traffic, the bus can be a good deal. And the more people ride the bus, the less automobile traffic increases and the less carbon dioxide is pumped into the air.