RIPTA buses may stop near Mass. trains

AN MBTA TRAIN stops at the Attleboro station. /
AN MBTA TRAIN stops at the Attleboro station. /

ATTLEBORO – The R.I. Public Transit Authority is “very likely” to open a new bus stop near the South Attleboro commuter rail station early next fall, according to the agency’s deputy general manager.

Henry Kinch told The Sun Chronicle that engineers are designing a $300,000 bus turnaround that would be located in Pawtucket, about a two-minute walk from the MBTA train station, which serves trains running to Boston.

Kinch told the newspaper RIPTA would likely extend its Benefit/Broadway bus route to serve the new turnaround.

“We’ve been trying to get people from Pawtucket to the train station for a number of years,” Kinch said. “People have requested this over the years.”

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In a recent interview with Providence Business News, John Flaherty, co-chair of the Coalition for Transportation Choices, said the state has been prevented from running a bus directly to the South Attleboro station because of federal rules which bar bus systems that receive federal money such as RIPTA from crossing state lines.

By building the turnaround just inside of Rhode Island, RIPTA would avoid needing to cross into Massachusetts.

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