RI Transit Riders 2023 Legislation positions
Bus Benches Study, H-5730 – Support
Introduced by Rep. David P. Morales.
This bill directs RIPTA to conduct a study, to be completed by March 1, 2024, exploring the feasibility of installing as many benches in front of bus stops as possible. The findings and recommendations of the costs shall be transmitted to the Governor and the House and Senate Finance committees.
RIPTA currently has approximately 3,500 bus stops and 340 bus shelters, with only a small fraction of the total having benches. Providing benches at bus stops and shelters would be of great benefit to passengers, who often having to wait several minutes before their bus arrives. This would be of particular advantage to those riders who are elderly, in poor health, disabled, or just tired. We commend the sponsors for introducing legislation to take the first step toward improving the transit experience for those taking the bus.
Fare Free RIPTA, H5622/S234 – Support with conditions
Introduced by Rep. Leonela Felix and Sen. Meghan Kallman
RI Transit Riders supports H5622/S234 to make RIPTA fare-free effective January 1, 2024. This is our position on this legislation:
Transportation is a leading source of greenhouse gases, and we must take action to reduce vehicle emissions. With the failure to enact the Transportation Climate Initiative (TCI), we must look to other programs to reduce transportation emissions. We believe a free-fare public transit system will increase bus ridership substantially and persuade my car owners to take the bus instead. Rhode Island needs to take a bold step like this in order to make a significant difference on climate change.
The cost of a free-fare program will require an increase in RIPTA’s current operating funds. RIPTA should not be expected to cover the additional costs out of its current allocation from the state.
Nevertheless, making up the lost revenue is relatively affordable. How much would RIPTA lose with a free-fare system? Based upon the Agency’s pre-covid budgets, RIPTA would lose passenger fares, Medicaid reimbursements, student passes, Upass and Ecopass revenue, totaling about $18.4 million, This doesn’t count any fare-free operation savings from more efficient use of buses and labor, due to the speeding up of boardings if passengers need not swipe cards or pay cash upon entering a bus. Faster boarding translates to faster trips as well.
In contrast to the amount needed in additional tax revenues to make RIPTA fare free, state spending on eliminating property taxes on cars, now set to be over $160 million, is eventually expected to be over $220 million per year. This is an expenditure that does little or nothing to help the mostly low-income people without cars who actually pay the fares. This is not equitable! Furthermore, eliminating the car tax only encourages car ownership and will increase greenhouse gases instead of investing in public transit, which will decrease them.
Increasing ridership will not require RIPTA to expand service and thus generate more expense. RIPTA has plenty of capacity for more riders. During the pandemic, the agency is carrying about 10 million passengers/year, with its fleet about the same size as it was in 2008 when it carried over 25 million. There are legitimate expansion plans in the works, to satisfy real needs. These mostly entail expanding evening and weekend runs.
In closing, RI Transit Riders supports H5622/S234 as long as we cover the full cost of the fare revenue loss and leave RIPTA still in a position to meet rider demand for expanding routes and service.
Rideshare Surcharge, H5621/S0059, Support
Introduced by Representative Dawson and Senator Kallman
Transportation is the largest source of carbon emissions in Rhode Island, and the EC4 recently reported that vehicle emissions are actually going up, not down. We need to both electrify vehicles and make serious investments in public transportation, biking, and pedestrian infrastructure in order to tackle this growing issue. RIPTA and municipalities need new sources of revenue to build, operate, and maintain this infrastructure.
RITR supports the proposal to issue a surcharge on services like Uber and Lyft, as Massachusetts has done since 2016 and is now common in several other cities and states. Senator Kallman’s proposal is to tax the companies $0.75 per ride. Half of the revenue would go to the municipality where the ride originated for street improvement projects, and the other half would go to RIPTA to fund operations and projects associated with the Transit Master Plan.
Rhode Island Transit Riders 