The idea of moving buses out of Kennedy Plaza has long been a key component of a centralized transportation hub for Providence. But the idea was to move them to a location that improved transportation access.
Now the state has moved away from the plan of a single, intramodal station near Providence Station and is embracing the concept of multiple bus hubs across downtown.
A plan released this fall by the R.I. Department of Transportation moves most bus trips out of Kennedy Plaza and puts the largest share at a new station across from the Garrahy Judicial Complex, at the edge of the Jewelry District.
The proposal would reduce the bus berths in Kennedy Plaza from 12 to four.
The bus plan – which RIDOT emphasizes is not final – received a blast of public attention for an underpass that was intended to help increase pedestrian use of the downtown parks by having buses travel underneath a portion of Washington Street.
But transit advocates say a more important consideration is what the plan will do for bus users. The state’s vision seems driven by a goal of getting people on buses outside of Kennedy Plaza, said John Flaherty, deputy director of Grow Smart Rhode Island.
“At a time when our elected officials and business leaders ought to be thinking about where we can leverage a first-rate transit system to grow the economy, it’s backward looking to be having a conversation about how we move them out of there,” Flaherty said.
It’s not clear, he said, whether the plan would require more bus riders to take additional trips on the more-frequent Downtown Transit Connector buses to make connections.
Barry Schiller, a former board member for the R.I. Public Transit Authority, said he has concerns about the state plan, including whether it will reduce access of riders to central Providence in general.
“Routes will no longer guarantee you get to central Providence,” he said. “You may be shunted off to the Garrahy [station], which is further away than most people want to go.”
What’s driving it, he said, is business interests downtown who “see the buses and the passengers as an impediment to redeveloping property there.”
The Providence Foundation, which includes leaders of many downtown businesses, said in a letter to RIDOT that even four berths in Kennedy Plaza would be too much.
“As ardent supporters of the Downtown Transit Connector, we believe that Washington Street is the best route for the [transit connector] through downtown Providence but we do not support the siting of bus stops and berths within Kennedy Plaza, Burnside or Biltmore Parks,” the letter states.
RIPTA CEO Scott Avedisian said the disbursement of transit hubs across downtown has a potential to be more convenient. Data indicate that of 15,000 people arriving at Kennedy Plaza, more than 11,000 do not take transfers.
Anecdotally, based on interviews, many are heading to the courthouse for appointments, Avedisian said. Garrahy would have direct service under this plan.
Feedback from riders has been mixed, he said, with some very negative, some very positive.
Mary MacDonald is a PBN staff writer. Contact her at Macdonald@PBN.com.
The fallacy is Avedisian’s comment on transfers is that its focus is on the present and is not visionary as to what it could be. The low transfer rate is itself a sign that the RIPTA system has deficiencies. Rhode Island needs a long-term plan on public transit which should include Amtrak, the “T” and RIPTA. First the State needs to make an investment in grafting onto the “T” light rail lines that service just RI. That means integrating a system from Westerly to Providence, possibly a spur to Woonsocket. In addition to present stations, this will require new stations at Kingston (URI), East Greenwich, Cranston, possibly Olneyville. With such a concept then the need is for RIPTA to integrate its system with the “T”. This calls for the very thing they have dropped – an intermodal center located below grade at the Amtrak Providence Station. In this way RIPTA bus riders can connect to the “T”, the RI “T”, and Amtrak. All of these actions will see transfers soar, a sure sign the system works.
Taking the buses out Kennedy Plaza means we restore that space to a place more beautiful and useful and not as some gigantic waiting room replete with its bored, poorly postured clientele. By putting bus riders in a spacious indoor space you keep them out of the elements, cool in summer, warm in winter and because the space is easier to provide surveillance then the riders will be free from predators. Other cities have moved centers to below grade for efficiency, RI should do the same. We need a better and more comprehension vision of public transit in RI.