Senator asks RIPTA to retain Pier Flex Service

PROVIDENCE – Sen. Patrick McDonald, whose district includes Narragansett and South Kingstown, has asked RIPTA to change its plans to eliminate its Flex Service to Narragansett. Flex Service offers 16 passenger, handicap-accessible transportation to suburban and rural areas of the state. Passengers may either board the bus/van at one of its regular route stops or telephone for pickup elsewhere. They may then ride to any destination within the Flex zone or to a place where the route intersects with a regular bus route where they can transfer. RIPTA has proposed dropping the FLEX Service as a cost saver. McDonald (D-Dist. 24) wrote RIPTA that the service had been "cost effective," and that there are "many residents who rely on (it) on a daily basis…for getting to their jobs…or to the supermarket."