A legislative committee on Tuesday asked for clearer answers to the state’s plan to terminate a state-run van pool that serves about 250 commuters, but its request will not stop the GoMaine program’s service from ending Aug. 31.

Government Oversight Committee members said they want to know how much subsidy money the GoMaine program has received in recent years and whether $233,000 in the van pool’s expense account is the riders’ money or belongs to the program.

The state Department of Transportation announced earlier this year that the van pool, one component of several in the larger GoMaine program, would be ending and that riders on its 27 routes across the state should seek alternative van pool services. The DOT said van use had started to dwindle and the van pool program model was unsustainable.

GoMaine has published the names of three private services for commuters to use.

While some Democratic members of the legislative committee consider the program’s shutoff poor policy, the panel is reluctant to take any action to extend the program, saying it has no power to do that.

Still, questions about the financial underpinnings of the decision continued to baffle lawmakers from both major political parties, so they asked the Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability to come up with answers. The refined figures won’t be available before the van service ends.

“We don’t have all of the information here,” said Sen. Bill Diamond, D-Windham.

Another Democrat on the committee, Rep. Don Pilon of Saco, was particularly concerned about the $233,000 left in the van pool’s expense account. Pilon said some state workers using the pool told him it includes money deducted from their paychecks for the service.

“They feel the money should be returned to them and not spent on some other (Department of Transportation) service,” Pilon said.

Some of the Democrats’ concerns were echoed by Republican Rep. Les Fossel of Alna, who asked, “Are these straight-up figures?”

¦ GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT Committee members said they want to know how much subsidy money the GoMaine program has received in recent years and whether $233,000 in the van pool’s expense account is the riders’ money or belongs to the program.

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