We saved RIPTA!

For now…

In the 2024 legislative session, RIPTA faced an $18M budget shortfall, threatening statewide service cuts and mass operator layoffs that would undermine our state’s economic, environmental, and equity goals. At the same time, in February RIPTA proposed to cut service on nearly 30 routes due to its driver shortage. However, tireless advocacy from legislators, coalition partners, and hundreds of individuals resulted in $15M in additional state funding in this year’s state budget, which will prevent devastating service cuts and enable RIPTA to continue hiring drivers at an increased wage to end the driver shortage.

See our video and photos highlighting this year’s campaign, and click here to view the full Save RIPTA statement on this year’s session.

But the fight is still not over. RIPTA’s additional $15M is one-time federal pandemic funding and will not exist next year, inflation will only further increase expenses, and the gas tax, RIPTA’s primary funding source, will continue to decline from EV adoption; this means that RIPTA’s budget deficit next session will only become even greater. Previous, preliminary projections were upwards of $40M, with an unprecedented scale of (unfinalized) projected service cuts.

In addition, the state made no commitment for increasing and expanding service as envisioned in the Transit Master Plan, RIPTA’s bold, publicly vetted, data-driven vision to expand transit service statewide to get more people where they’re going more conveniently, affordably and with dignity. The plan is nearing 4 years old without any state commitment to its implementation, and we will not achieve a robust public transit system or the legally enforceable emissions reduction goals in the Act on Climate without it.

The Transit Master Plan would:

Establish a 19-route ‘frequent transit network’, with service past midnight and R-Line service on six new routes
Establish 10 new routes serving underserved and crosstown corridors
Increase service on every route to every 30 minutes or better
Decrease average waits by 38-51%
Increase routes with late night service by 328%

See how your commute would be improved: Providence Area Improvements Map, Statewide Improvements Map

Public transportation is a racial and economic justice issue. According to the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority’s 2019 State of the System Report, a majority of RIPTA riders (53%) identify as Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC), even though they represent just 14% of the state’s overall population per the U.S. Census. Also according to the State of the System Report, 80% of RIPTA’s existing ridership has a household income of less than $35,000 annually and 39% have a household income of less than $10,000 annually. The highest percentage of Rhode Islanders without access to a private vehicle live in the urban communities of Providence, Pawtucket, Central Falls, North Providence, Woonsocket, Cranston, Warwick, West Warwick and Newport. 81% of RIPTA riders do not own a vehicle.

As we grapple with Washington Bridge induced congestion and our unprecedented climate crisis, there has never been a more urgent time for an increased, dedicated revenue source to sustain and expand a public transportation system that the economy, environment, and residents of Rhode Island require and deserve.

The Save RIPTA Coalition will be busy researching and strategizing this Summer and Fall, and will hit the legislative floor next session; as we approach January, we will need your action to save and expand RIPTA. In the meantime, please join PSC’s mailing list, follow the Providence Streets Coalition or follow @SaveRIPTA for future updates and action alerts.

***

Save RIPTA Coalition

Save RIPTA is a broad coalition of community organizations, labor unions, legislative champions and everyday Rhode Islanders who are calling upon our state leaders to save and expand RIPTA in our next state budget. Any group that is supportive of this mission can join – there is no set time requirement. Some, but not all members are also partners of the Providence Streets Coalition. The Save RIPTA Coalition includes:

Labor Unions/Groups:

RI AFL-CIO
Amalgamated Transit Union Local 618
Carpenters Local 330
SEIU Local 1199
Rhode Island Committee on Occupational Safety and Health

Community Organizations:

Rhode Island Transit Riders
Progreso Latino
Rhode Island Interfaith Coalition to Reduce Poverty
Climate Jobs Rhode Island
Central Providence Opportunities – Health Equity Zone
Providence Student Union
Conservation Law Foundation
Economic Progress Institute
Community Libraries of Providence
Providence Preservation Society
Climate Action Rhode Island
Groundwork Rhode Island
Providence Bike Collective
West Broadway Neighborhood Association
Trinity Square Together
Elmwood Neighborhood Association
South Elmwood Neighborhood Association
Washington Park Association
Rhode Island Environmental Education Association
Rhode Island Organizing Project
Rhode Island Association of Railroad Passengers
Young Voices Rhode Island

***