PROVIDENCE – The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority today added sites in Westerly and the Elmwood section of Providence to the list of sites for hearings on planned service cuts.
Last Monday, RIPTA announced 12 hearings – two at each of six sites: in Barrington, Narragansett, Newport, Providence, Smithfield and Warwick – whose dates ran from Friday, Sept. 26, through Thursday, Oct 2. (READ MORE)
This afternoon, the transit agency added two more hearings, one in Elmwood and the other in Westerly, bringing the total to 14 statewide. The new dates and locations are:
• Elmwood Community Center, at 155 Niagara St., Providence, at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 24.
• Westerly Town Hall, Town Council Chambers, 45 Broad St., at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 25.
At the public hearings, RIPTA officials will outline the authority’s planned service reductions, answer questions and collect public input. Responses gathered at the hearing will be presented to the RIPTA board of directors before they vote on the proposed cuts.
Squeezed by rising fuel prices and declining revenue from the state gasoline tax, the transit agency faces a $10.8 million projected shortfall for fiscal 2009. To help close the gap, it has proposed slashing service by about 20 percent.
The cuts would affect part or all of 50 regular bus routes; end service to eight Park ’n’ Ride lots; eliminate “Flex” mini-bus service in Narragansett, Tiverton and West Warwick; end many evening or weekend trips; and eliminate Ride “paratransit” service for the disabled in areas where regular service was cut. (The federal Americans with Disablities Act (ADA) requires that paratransit service be offered within a three-quarter-mile corridor surrounding any fixed-route service.)
The state’s northwest corner arguably would be the region hardest hit; targets include all RIPTA service to the towns of Burrillville, Glocester and Scituate, as well as the East Bay’s Tiverton.
“We want to be able to continue to create a first-class transit system for Rhode Island, but that’s not possible with our current funding stream,” RIPTA General Manager Alfred J. Moscola said in a Sept. 1 statement and again today. “Transit agencies across the country that depend on only one revenue source … are experiencing the same problem.”
R.I. Public Transportation Authority information, including RIPTA bus schedules, is available by calling 728-9400 or visiting ripta.com.
