> Home > Transportation Choices News

Transportation Choices News

Jonathan Harris: Leverage investment with buses
The Providence Journal
Dec 10, 2008
IF THE HEAD of the Rhode Island Department of Transportation announced that he was closing down south-bound Route 95 from the merging of Route 146 to the Atwells Avenue exit because of budget constraints, would you believe him? What if he then said that he would only allow traffic on Route 6 between 7 and 9 a.m. and then 5 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. to reduce wear on the road to save money for repairs?

Editorial: Transportation themes
The Providence Journal
Nov 20, 2008
And improving mass transit helps maintain infrastructure by reducing wear and tear on highways and bridges. It’s only fair that those who use the roads pay more of their ever-rising costs.

OP-ED: Bailout (and Buildup)
The New York Times
Oct 21, 2008
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN The 2 is back. Last week, U.S. retail gasoline prices fell below $3 a gallon — to an average of $2.91 — the lowest level in almost a year. Why does this news leave me with mixed feelings? Because in the middle of this wrenching economic crisis, with unemployment rising and 401(k)’s shrinking, it would be a real source of relief for many Americans to get a break at the pump. Today’s declining gasoline prices act like a tax cut for consumers and can save $15 to $20 a tank-full for an S.U.V.-driving family, compared with when gasoline was $4.11 a gallon in July.

RIPTA budget plan would cut services, 165 jobs
The Providence Journal
Oct 21, 2008
By Bruce Landis Journal Staff Writer PROVIDENCE — The budget-balancing plan before the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority’s board of directors would mean cutting the agency’s work force by 165, with practically the whole cutback coming through layoffs, officials said yesterday.

House focuses on transportation
The Pawtucket Times
Oct 15, 2008
By JIM BARON PROVIDENCE — Working to design a comprehensive, integrated transportation policy for the state, rather than dealing separately with highway and bridge work, RIPTA, the airports, the ports in Providence and at Quonset Point, and commuter rail, the House Finance Committee opened what promises to be a series of hearings with the various departments and agencies Tuesday.

Study calls on Mass. to improve public transportation between Springfield, Worcester and Hartford
The Republican Newsroom
Oct 13, 2008
By PATRICK JOHNSON pjohnson@repub.com SPRINGFIELD - A new report by the Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group is urging the state to pursue investment in public transportation including a regional rail system that would connect Western Massachusetts with Worcester and Hartford.

Critics of bus cuts tell RIPTA to keep route to Burrillville
The Providence Journal
Oct 07, 2008
By Mark Reynolds Journal Staff Writer BURRILLVILLE — Three times a week, 81-year-old Leo Biron relies on a Providence-bound transit bus to shuttle him to his dialysis treatment. His 78-year-old wife, Gloria, is fretful about the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority’s plan for jettisoning the No. 9 bus connection to Burrillville.

Critics: A lot riding on RIPTA bus cuts
The Providence Journal
Oct 01, 2008
By Bruce Landis Journal Staff Writer Sopheya Lambertsen, of Providence, a member of the Students for a Democratic Society, speaks against service cuts before the RIPTA board. PROVIDENCE — A member of the board that runs the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority yesterday denounced as “stupid” the rules that produced the list of potential bus service cuts that are currently on the table.

Editorial: Bridges, buses are hot issues in Ocean State
The Newport Daily News
Sep 15, 2008
A perfect storm is brewing in Rhode Island. At the same time the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority is planning a series of public hearings to discuss its proposed service reductions to bridge an estimated $12 million gap, the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Panel on Transportation Funding announced its own series of hearings on the woeful state of the state’s transportation infrastructure, as well as its funding needs, estimated to be as much as $640 million over the next 10 years.

Editorial: RIPTA is worth it
The Providence Journal
Sep 14, 2008
A 20-percent cut in bus service would not solve the fiscal crisis that has dogged public transit in the Ocean State for years. Cutting service and raising fares are hardy perennials at the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority. At least this latest proposal leaves out the fare increase for a change.

RIPTA says growing deficit to force service cuts after Jan. 1
The Providence Journal
Sep 08, 2008
By Bruce Landis Journal Staff Writer PROVIDENCE — The state’s transit system is on its own until January, when, its officials say, it will have to start cutting bus service by as much as 20 percent because of a large and growing budget deficit.

EDITORIAL: RIPTA: A route to nowhere?
The South County Independent
Sep 04, 2008
How ironic that less than a week after the Sierra Club released a major report on the need to expand mass transit, the R.I. Public Transit Authority announced hearings to cut back routes statewide. That’s right – at a time when Rhode Islanders are flocking to the bus to save money on gas, RIPTA is in the red, with a $12.2 million shortfall expected in this fiscal year. The Sierra Club not only anticipated this problem, it has proposed a series of steps to keep the buses running.

RIPTA cuts big across Rhode Island
The Pawtucket Times
Sep 03, 2008
PROVIDENCE — Caught between the high price of its own clean diesel fuel, and lower receipts from the state gas tax because high pump prices are causing people to buy less gasoline, RIPTA says it is being forced to cut service on routes across the state.

RIPTA plans to cut service by 20 percent
The Providence Journal
Sep 03, 2008
PROVIDENCE — The state transit authority yesterday spelled out the service cutbacks it is considering, saying they would eliminate a fifth of its service, affect dozens of bus lines across the state and drop service to four towns entirely.

Group urges a different road for RIPTA
The Providence Journal
Aug 29, 2008
PROVIDENCE — The state has a good transit system and needs a bigger one, not the shrunken system that threatens to arrive in a few months, a group of organizations said yesterday. At a news conference at Kennedy Plaza, the Sierra Club issued a study citing a long list of business, environmental and health reasons for favoring transit and supporting the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority.

Washington Post: Ridership Surges as Gas Prices Fuel Exodus From Cars
The Washington Post
Jun 03, 2008
Soaring gas prices are pushing more Americans to take public transit, with streetcars, trolleys and other light rail experiencing a 10.3 percent increase in ridership for the first quarter of the year, according to a report released yesterday by the American Public Transportation Association.

RIPTA raises bus fares, but operating deficit still looms
The Providence Journal
May 20, 2008
By Bruce Landis Journal Staff Writer PROVIDENCE — The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority board raised its fares yesterday, but before the decision was made, the agency had already suffered financial setbacks that far exceed the added revenue the fare hike will produce.

Bicyclists are spokesmen for a greener commute
The Providence Journal
May 17, 2008
Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline traded in his suit, car and driver for a 14-speed Gary Fisher road bike and blue gym shorts yesterday morning to ride from his East Side home to Kennedy Plaza, where he greeted about 50 dedicated cyclists who rolled up for the 52nd national Bike to Work Day.

R.I. transit agency gets new chairman
The Boston Globe
Apr 21, 2008
A new board chairman has been selected to lead the Rhode Island Public Transit Agency. Robert Batting was elected Monday to lead the agency's board while it faces budget problems.

Cranston joins mayors’ compact on emissions
The Providence Journal - West Bay
Mar 19, 2008
By David Scharfenberg Journal Staff Writer CRANSTON — Mayor Michael T. Napolitano has signed a pact designed to reduce the city’s carbon footprint. Cranston becomes the fourth Rhode Island city, behind Providence, Warwick and Pawtucket, to endorse the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement.

Chris Wilhite and George Nee: Energy projects could jolt R.I. back to life
The Providence Journal
Feb 20, 2008
AT A TIME when the U.S. and Rhode Island economies are rapidly losing manufacturing jobs, renewable-energy manufacturing and energy-efficiency strategies could revitalize communities across the Ocean State that have lost jobs, as well as create a whole new generation of good-paying manufacturing jobs.

Forecasting bikes, buses and ride sharing
The Providence Journal
Oct 26, 2007
A visiting transportation guru offered a glimpse into improved public transportation for Providence, as well as examples of how some cities have moved from a mere idea to a bona fide project.