It’s rare that I post something that’s so restricted to the general area, but this is a very important issue facing the city of Providence and the state of Rhode Island. The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority, aka RIPTA, is seeing some of the highest ridership ever, yet the state senate and the governor don’t seem to care. RIPTA cannot afford, on their current budget, to add buses to the bus routes that need increased service. What they end up doing is shuffling buses around from the routes with lower ridership to the overcrowded routes. This means that if you rely on one of those low demand routes, your bus may never come because RIPTA needed the bus for a route with higher demand. This happens quite frequently and leaves people stuck on the curb.
To any state senators and representatives that might see this, increase funding for RIPTA. RIPTA is not just something that does its thing and can be ignored. It’s a major asset to the state of RI and the city of Providence. When people who rely on the bus can’t get a bus, they must rely on other methods of transportation. This means more cars on the road. RIPTA is necessary for many people who do not have cars, who are not able to drive, or who just prefer not to use the cars they have. It should be a viable option for 100% of the people who live and/or work in the city of Providence to get to and from their jobs in the city. People should be able to step out to a bus stop in the city, wait no more than 10-15 minutes, and get on a bus. They should not be watching buses pass by because they are full. They should not be missing buses because the bus was moved to a different route. The continued success of the city of Providence is very dependent on the ability of RIPTA to meet or exceed the needs of the residents and workers in the city of Providence and the surrounding communities.
If you live in Rhode Island (this includes all you college students who came from out of state to attend one of our fine institutions), please contact your state senators and representatives in the General Assembly and urge them to give more funding for RIPTA. There is a reason it is called PUBLIC transportation. Just as the roads are public roads, the buses are public buses and must be funded by the state and not solely by the fares. Imagine if the roads were funded solely by the gas and car tax. The roads would be one giant pot hole, requiring an off-road vehicle to traverse the state. Contact Governor Carcieri and tell him why RIPTA is important to you and why the state needs to give them more funding.
More info:
Bus rides now a tough ticket (Providence Journal, 11/1/07)
Transit 2020 Transportation Project
Why don’t more people use RIPTA? (UrbanPlanet | Providence)
Transit 2020 Discussion (UrbanPlanet | Providence)
Public Transit in Providence (UrbanPlanet | Providence)
Car Free in Providence? (UrbanPlanet | Providence)
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