PROVIDENCE – The state’s public transit system is going paperless, the R.I. Public Transit Authority announced on Monday.
Starting Jan. 15, paper passes of any kind – daily, monthly or the seven-day or 10-day pass – will no longer be accepted. Instead, passengers on RIPTA buses or shuttles can pay using the reloadable Wave cards or with cash. For those looking to pay in cash, exact change must be used.
The move to a paperless system comes more than a year after RIPTA debuted its Wave smart fare collection system, which lets people pay with a registered, reloadable card or a cellphone app. Since launching in September 2020, more than 40,000 passengers have begun using the Wave system, according to RIPTA.
Passengers with existing paper passes that still have money on them can transfer their balance to a Wave card. Details on how to transfer existing money to the Wave system is available at RIPTA.com/exchange.
