Three months after the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority agreed to reinstate its express run from Middletown and Newport to Quonset, the number of riders using the route remains low.
So low in fact that RIPTA is once again considering cutting the route, which is used mostly by workers employed at the Quonset/Davisville Park.
“If we don’t get additional riders, we will have to think about eliminating the route,” said Lee Beliveau, a RIPTA spokesperson. “By the end of the year we have to have some kind of ridership plan. There are about 15 or 20 people who use the route now and the busses hold 40. It’s a long trip and it’s costly because there aren’t many places on the way to stop and pick up additional passengers.”
RIPTA officials first considered eliminating the route as part of its budget deficit reduction plan last July. At the urging of state officials and legislators the route was continued.
Beliveau said officials at RIPTA are looking to one of Quonset’s biggest employers, General Dynamics for help in finding a solution to the problem.
“In Connecticut, General Dynamics subsidies the commutes,” he said. “They don’t do that here. If we can see employers coming to the plate and encouraging transit use, we can build a market. We haven’t seen that commitment yet.”
In fact, what makes providing public transportation to and from Quonset/Davisville Beliveau difficult, he said, is that many of the companies have staggered their shifts so that no two start at the same time.
RIPTA also tried offering a service from Providence to Quonset, but because it had an average of only one rider that program was also discontinued.
Still, Beliveau said, RIPTA wants to encourage public transportation at Quonset/Davisville as further development continues.
“In our opinion, the Quonset area is an area for mass transit,” he said. “We made comments on the master plan on encouraging development of transit systems and are working closely with EDC on these issues.”
